


Spring in Charleston

by Frequently_Humming



Series: With the New Day [2]
Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Family Bonding, Gen, Getting to Know Each Other, M/M, Mutual Pining, Spring Break, Will They/Won't They?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-05
Updated: 2017-04-09
Packaged: 2018-09-15 01:37:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 14
Words: 41,217
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9213518
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Frequently_Humming/pseuds/Frequently_Humming
Summary: “Where’s Iolo,” Poe asked, stretching his neck to look over the seats as best as he could while remaining buckled.  “He’s not obnoxious.”“That guy had to live with you for the past three months,” Bastian said flatly.  “He’s had to put up with this,” he continued, gesturing at Poe, “every single day.  He has earned a break from you and your sap.”It's been three months and it's time to head south for spring break.





	1. Saturday, April 2nd-Flying In

**Author's Note:**

> The sequel has arrived! I highly recommend reading 'The Kids on the Couch' first, because this story will not make sense without it.  
> As with the first story, this is rated T primarily for the use of curse words throughout. Any additional warning will be posted at the beginning of each chapter :)

“So do you, like, judge the pilot every time you fly?”

 

Poe rolled his eyes.  “I only fly one- or two-seaters—different can of worms.”

 

Bastian shrugged, settling back into his window seat.  “Is the kid excited?”

 

Poe smiled, knew it was that dopey smile the group had now dubbed the ‘Finn Grin.’  Whatever, he didn’t even care anymore.  Poe’s phone buzzed in his hand, and he opened the new text quickly.

 

_Finn:_

_On the plane yet?_

 

_Poe:_

_Yeah.  Stuck next to Bastian._

_Finn:_

_If he’s annoying, I’m babysitting and I’m positive I can get the baby to throw up on him_

Poe snorted then angled his screen so Bastian couldn’t read over his shoulder.

 

_Poe:_

_We’ll call that Plan B_

The response was almost immediate.

 

_Finn:_

_B for barf?_

_Poe:_

_You know me so well.  Gonna go into airplane mode now_

_Finn:_

_Alright.  Safe travels! ooo_

 

Poe shook his head; the kid had started signing off like that, and Poe had let it slide the first few times before he caved and asked what ‘ooo’ meant.  Finn’s responding text had been so adorable that Poe had actually screen-shot it and didn’t even feel weird about it.  ‘ _Well x’s are kisses, but we’re not there yet so o’s.  Hugs are awesome._ ’

 

“Oh for fuck’s sake,” Bastian groaned as the plane started to taxi and Poe slipped is power-downed phone into his jeans’ pocket.  “You are fucking disgusting, man.”

 

“Where’s Iolo,” Poe asked, stretching his neck to look over the seats as best as he could while remaining buckled.  “He’s not obnoxious.”

 

“That guy had to live with you for the past three months,” Bastian said flatly.  “He’s had to put up with _this_ ,” he continued, gesturing at Poe, “every single day.  He has earned a break from you and your sap.”

 

Poe rolled his eyes and pointedly pulled out the in-flight catalogue, enjoying vindictively how Bastian's eyes widened when the plane began its acceleration down the runway.  Why were all of Poe’s friends scared of flying?  Poe swallowed a few times as the plane ascended to pop his ears; normally he would chew gum, but he had given his pack to Iolo, who had looked ready to faint when they were standing in line to board.  Maybe if he was focusing on not swallowing the gum Iolo would be distracted from the whole “large mental death trap in the sky”-thing he had been mumbling about for the last week.

 

“Hey,” Poe said, raising his voice slightly over the engines, “they have the new Jack Reacher movie.”

 

Bastian glanced over and frowned and shook his head.  Poe rolled his eyes; next time he was stocking up on gum for all these idiots.  He folded the catalogue in half and showed it to his friend, pointing at the list of in-flight movies.  Bastian squinted down, and then nodded and gave a shaky smile.

 

“Anything,” he shouted.  Poe shushed him, before settling back to wait for the seatbelt light to go off so he could grab his laptop and earphones.  This was going to be a hell of a flight.  At least he had someone to look forward to.

 

*****

 

“Okay, just keep your head down and breathe,” Poe instructed, keeping his hand on the back of Iolo’s neck.

 

“I know that,” Iolo whined back, pathetically.  “I took the same classes you did.”

 

Poe rolled his eyes over to Kylo, who was leaning against a column, his face almost completely hidden inside the hood of his sweater.  Iolo had been fine until the plane had started its descent into Charleston International, then he started hyperventilating.  Kylo had practically carried the poor guy off the plane when it had pulled up at the gate.  Bastian and Poe had grabbed their bags and the four of them made a bee-line for the nearest exit.

 

“Does this happen every time,” Bastian asked, reappearing behind where Poe and Iolo were seated on a white stone bench outside at the pick-up line.  Bastian held out a water bottle and Poe took it and opened it with a shrug.

 

“Dunno, I’ve never flown with him before.”

 

“You can stop talking about me like I’m not here,” Iolo snapped, propping his elbows on his knees and sitting up slightly.  “I’m fine.”

 

Poe passed the water bottle over and Iolo took a small sip.  “How’s the head, dude,” Poe asked.

 

“I said I’m fine,” Iolo grumbled, taking another sip before passing the bottle back to Poe.  Kylo, Bastian, and Poe just stared at him until he sighed and pressed his palms against his eyes.  “I’m a little dizzy but getting better.”

 

“That’s all we needed to know,” Poe smiled, patting his roommate on the back.  “How long until our ride is here,” he asked Kylo.

 

“Rey says she’ll be here in five,” Kylo answered, nervously tugging on the front of his hood.  “Said she was in the waiting lot.”

 

“You okay, dude?  You seem on edge,” Bastian said, jerking his chin at Kylo, who shrugged.

 

“Just want to get out of here before someone--,”

 

“ _Ben_?!  Holy shit, is that you?”

 

“—recognizes me,” Kylo finished flatly as he pushed his hood off and turned to a guy in a pastel green button-up, khakis, and boating shoes.  “Hey, Beau.”

 

“Shit, man, I didn’t think you came around anymore,” Beau laughed, holding out a hand for Kylo to shake.  “I thought you’d gone native with the Yanks.”

 

Poe noticed Kylo’s left eye twitch slightly.  “You know how it is.”

 

“I sure do,” Beau said, laughing again.  “My folks are lucky to see me for Christmas and Easter.”

 

“That’s right,” Kylo nodded.  There was a slight pause, no doubt Kylo was waiting for Beau to leave.

 

He didn’t.  “Say, didn’t I hear something about your family recently?  Someone was in the hospital?”

 

Kylo swallowed.  “Yeah, months ago.  All good now.”

 

“Glad to hear it,” Beau grinned.  He glanced over at Poe, Bastian, and Iolo, who were watching the exchange in befuddlement.  “Well, if you’re in town for a while, we should catch up.  Call me.”

 

“Alright.  Have a good day, Beau,” Kylo nodded, shaking the guy’s hand again, before Beau turned away and headed away.

 

“What the fuck kind of name is ‘Beau,’” Bastian asked with a smirk.  “The guy looks like a cartoon character.”

 

“It’s short for Beauregard,” Kylo muttered, crossing his arms.  “There’s a lot of that down here.”

 

“So, we’re going to ignore the whole ‘Ben’ thing,” Iolo whispered to Poe.

 

“Tell ya later,” Poe said softly back.  Kylo’s issues with his family had, at some point, been enough for him to change his name, which he had told Poe over shots two years ago.  Poe glanced up at Bastian, who nodded.  “Who was in the hospital,” Poe asked louder, shifting the topic.  “Finn didn’t mention anything.”

 

Kylo blinked.  “Uh, it’s—it wasn’t—everything’s good.  No worries,” he stammered out.

 

A car horn honked behind them and voice shouted, “Get in, losers, we’re going shopping!”

 

Kylo choked out a surprised laugh before turning and freezing.  “Where the fuck did you get _that_?”

 

Rey leaned out of the driver side window of a white Land Rover SUV.  “It’s not mine,” she called.  “One of Chewie’s clients went out of town and agreed to lend this out to you for the week.”

 

Kylo circled around the car warily, while Bastian made a show of picking up Kylo’s duffle bag and his own. 

 

“Alright, you okay for the car ride,” Poe asked Iolo, who rolled his eyes.

 

“So long as it doesn’t take flight, I’m fine.”  Iolo stood, shouldering his backpack and pulling up the handle of his small rolling carry-on.  “Let’s get you to your Romeo.”

 

“Shut the fuck up,” Poe groaned, pushing himself up.  “Dunno why I’m Juliet in this scenario.”

 

“I dunno,” Bastian shrugged, tossing Poe’s bag into the trunk.  “I never liked either of them.  They’re kinda idiots.”

 

“So you can be either one,” Kylo called, from his spot in the passenger seat.  “Hurry up, I’m hungry.”

 

Poe climbed in after Iolo, taking the middle two seats, while Bastian climbed into the back seat and sprawled out. 

 

“Buckle up,” Rey said as she peeled into the exit lane and drove away from the airport.  “How was the flight?”

 

“Fine, right until Iolo passed out,” Kylo said drily.

 

“I didn’t pass out,” Iolo snapped. 

 

“I carried you off the plane bridal-style,” Kylo grumbled.

 

Iolo went pale.  “You didn’t.”

 

“If you don’t remember, then you passed out,” Bastian said helpfully from the backseat.  Rey laughed enthusiastically while Iolo scowled.

 

“Sounds like fun,” Rey smiled through the rear view mirror.  “By the way, Finn says sorry he couldn’t meet ya, Poe.  He got roped into babysitting--,”

 

“Yeah, he mentioned something about that,” Poe said, smiling softly.  “That one of his side jobs?”

 

Rey scoffed.  “No.  His friend, Alisha, has the cutest daughter.  Ellie’s dad was supposed to watch her today so Alisha could work on some assignment, but he was a no-show—again—so Finn offered to watch her.  I’m going call, see where he is.”

 

Bastian whistled lowly as Rey connected her cell to Bluetooth.  “That’s rough.”

 

“That’s Finn,” Rey shrugged, and then a phone ringing was projected over the car’s speakers.  After three rings, the call was picked up and Finn’s voice came through loud and clear.

 

“Hey, Rey.”

 

Poe beamed.  In the past three months, Poe and Finn had stuck to texting.  Finn had called Poe once, but Poe had been working his first overnight shift and had missed the call.  When he texted the next morning to ask if anything was wrong Finn had said it was a butt-dial.

 

“I picked everyone up,” Rey replied.  “Are you still at home?”

 

“Nah, Ellie and I got bored of Sesame Street.  We’re hanging at City Lights Coffee,” Finn said, before saying in a more muffled voice, “Thank you, ma’am.  This is my niece… Yes, she does… Thank you very much.  Have a great day.”

 

“What was that,” Rey asked.

 

Finn sighed, which came across as static.  “That’s the third little old white lady who asked if Ellie was my daughter.”

 

Poe muffled his snort behind his hand and glanced over at Iolo, who was smirking.

 

“ _What_?  That’s terrible,” Rey snapped indignantly.  “You can’t even hold a baby in public without--,”

 

“Chill out, it’s fine,” Finn soothed.  “One lady congratulated me for being an exemplary dad.”

 

“But you’re not a dad,” Rey said shrilly.  “You have to do stuff that you _haven’t_ and--,”

 

“Gee, thanks, Rey,” Finn cut in drily.  “I’m glad you’re here to teach me these things.  Tell me: the barista winked at me, does that mean I’m pregnant?”  That surprised a laugh out of Poe and Bastian, who leaned forward and slapped Poe on the shoulder.  There was slight pause before Finn asked slowly, “Rey…am I on speaker?”

 

“Obviously, I’m driving,” Rey answered.

 

“You could have opened with that,” Finn whined, adding, “Hi, everyone.”

 

“Hey, Finn, how’s life,” Bastian called up.  Finn laughed.

 

“Never a dull moment.”

 

“We’ll meet you at City Lights,” Rey told Finn.  “We’ll grab something to eat and then we’ll take the guys out to the beach house.  Do you have your car?”

 

“Left it at Luke’s.  No car seat.  But I can grab it.”

 

“We’ll drop you off, no worries,” Rey said.  “We’re about fifteen minutes out.”

 

“Alright.  Alisha said she’ll pick up Ellie in twenty.”

 

“Great!  Now,” Rey’s voice went coy, “say ‘bye’ to Poe and we’ll see you soon.”

 

Poe groaned, which was echoed by Finn over the speakers.  “Bye, y’all.  See ya soon, Poe.”

 

“See you in a bit,” Poe called in response before Rey chuckled and hung up.  “You’re the worst,” Poe grumbled at Rey.

 

“I am, I really am,” Rey grinned back at him through the mirror.  Kylo started fiddling with the radio, apparently looking for a specific station but Rey stopped him saying, “Oh my God, I love this song!  I’m obsessed!”

 

Kylo leaned back, and Rey turned up the volume, starting to bop along with the bass.  “I never heard this before,” Kylo said.

 

“It’s new.  Local band making it big,” Rey answered between humming along.  “The local stations have been playing it non-stop.  Finn said if I didn’t take it off repeat he would personally tell the band to pull the single.”

 

“I don’t think Finn has that power,” Iolo said hesitantly.

 

“Probably not, but he doesn’t usually make idle threats so I guess he was getting really annoyed,” Rey shrugged.  “Here’s the refrain—it’s so catchy!”

 

Poe tilted his head to listen and lean the side of his head against the window.  Fifteen minutes.  He could wait fifteen more minutes.


	2. Saturday, April 2nd-Meeting Up

“Alright, go to your boy,” Bastian teased, pushing the door open and shoving Poe out of the car as soon as Rey parked.  Poe stumbled across the pavement, sending a glare over his shoulder at Bastian and Iolo, who were giggling like fucking teenagers.

 

“I fucking hate both of you.”

 

“Go on,” Iolo said, shooing Poe away with a hand.  “I’ll order your coffee.”

 

“Where are we going,” Poe asked Kylo, ignoring the two behind him.  Kylo kicked his door shut and shoved his hands in his pockets.

 

“That’s it,” Kylo said, jerking his chin at the small coffee shop across the street.  “Hey, Poe?”

 

“What’s up,” Poe frowned, looking down at where Kylo had a grip on his arm. 

 

“You’ll be…nice, right?”

 

Poe raised an eyebrow.  “Yeah?  That was the plan.  Why?”

 

“I just mean—if you have second thoughts or whatever--,”

 

“I don’t,” Poe pulled his arm away with a scowl.  “I thought you were cool with this?”

 

Kylo shrugged.  “I’m cool.  It’s good.  All good.  Let’s go.”

 

Poe watched Kylo stroll across the street, meeting up with the others at the door.  What the hell was that about?  Poe shook his head, figuring he’d ask Kylo about it later.  Glancing both ways, Poe crossed the street and followed Bastian into the café.  He scanned the counter and the couple of tables at the front, but didn’t see Finn.  Making his way further in, Poe headed towards the back where there were a few low tables and armchairs.  There weren’t many people around, but Poe’s attention was caught by movement to his left.

 

Finn had found a seat next to a standing lamp.  He had a book open on the table in front of him, and he was leaning over to read it, pen between his lips.  Against his right shoulder he cradled a small bundle of pink.  Poe felt his lips tug up, and he knew he had some dopey look on his face.  As Poe drew closer he heard Finn humming softly.  The tune drew Poe up short.

 

“Duérmete mi niño?”

 

Finn’s head snapped up and the pen dropped from his slack mouth.  “Uh, what?”

 

“That song,” Poe said, stepping closer.  “It’s a Spanish lullaby.  My abuela sings it to my baby cousins.”

 

Finn blinked up at him.  “Really?  There're words?”  The blanketed bundle shifted and gurgled, and Finn smiled down at it, drawing it away from his chest slightly.  Poe leaned in to see the big brown eyes stare at him and dusty pink lips pout.

 

“Who’s this lovely lady,” Poe asked, smiling down at the baby.

 

“This is Ellie, and she’s supposed to be napping,” Finn answered with a small smile.  He cupped the back of her head, stroking the tight black curls softly with his thumb.  “I don’t know any lullabies, but I kinda remember that song… I must've heard it somewhere.”

 

“Maybe someone sung it to you,” Poe suggested, glancing up from Ellie to meet Finn’s gaze.  Finn bit his lip.

 

“Maybe at my first group house?  I was there until I was four,” Finn replied with a one-shoulder shrug.  Poe frowned at that, but decided to save any questions down that rabbit hole for later.

 

“Well, if you want, I can help you out,” Poe offered with a smile.

 

“Help me with what?”

 

“You hum, I’ll teach you the lyrics.”

 

Finn’s brow furrowed slightly before a tentative grin appeared on his face.  “I can do that.  What do ya think, Ellie?”  The baby yawned.  “I think that’s a ‘yes.’”

 

Poe nodded, waving a hand for Finn to start.  Finn still looked a bit unsure but he started humming lowly.  He adjusted his hold on Ellie, bringing her head back to rest against his chest.  Her eyelids were already flickering shut.  Poe waited until Finn hummed his way back to the opening line before joining in softly,

 

“ _Duérmete mi niño, duérmete mi amor_

_duérmete pedazo de mi corazón._ ”

 

Finn stopped humming and stared.  “Woah.”

 

“There’s more,” Poe said, moving around to perch on the edge of the table across from Finn.  Finn blinked.  “You know, for Ellie,” Poe added, hoping he wasn’t coming off like a complete creep, singing lullabies to the guy he’d been texting for months.

 

“Right, for Ellie,” Finn repeated.  And before Poe had a chance to decide if this might be a bad idea, Finn started humming again and Poe rushed to keep up.

 

“ _Este niño mío que nació de noche_

_quiere que lo lleve a pasear en coche_.”

 

Finn’s humming faded out again, this time so he could check on the baby in his arms.  Poe leaned back a little, suddenly realizing how close he had gotten to the kid.  Finn cooed softly, his face completely soft and relaxed, an easy smile on his lips.  Poe clasped his hands loosely between his knees, enjoying the sight.  He had never seen Finn like this before.

 

“Out like a light,” Finn announced a little victoriously, looking over at Poe.  His eyes scanned Poe’s face and he raised an eyebrow.  “You okay?  You look sorta…”  Poe braced himself.  “Well, honestly you look kinda hopeful.”

 

“Uh,” Poe gulped.  “I dunno what you’re talking about.”

 

Finn studied Poe for another second before a mischievous look came over his face.  Keeping his eyes trained on Poe, he leaned his head to the side and placed a quick kiss on the top of Ellie’s head.  Poe felt his throat go dry, and Finn beamed.  “Oh my God, this does it for you?”

 

“Shut up.”

 

“It does,” Finn said in amazement.  “You probably fantasize about coming home to someone barefoot in the kitchen with a baby on his hip, don’t you?”

 

Poe had honest to God never fantasized about that before in his life.  He grew up surrounded by babies; there wasn’t anything special about them.  This was a fucking revelation.  “Not until about thirty seconds ago,” Poe admitted.

 

Finn smiled, like this wasn’t the most awkward conversation in the world and Poe wasn’t two seconds from sinking right through the floor.  “That’s kinda cute.  I should warn you, I’m at least six years away from baby-rearing mode.”

 

“You’re still a fucking kid,” Poe hissed.  “You shouldn’t even be thinking about having a baby.”

 

“Language,” Finn whispered with a pointed look at Ellie.  “Also, this might be a good time to mention I don’t have a uterus and so I can’t actually have your babies.”

 

“Uh, what?”  Iolo appeared next to Finn’s chair, holding two steamy hot cups.  He looked between Poe and Finn.  “I should—bad time?”

 

“Hey, Iolo,” Finn greeted.  “How are ya doing?”

 

“Yeah, I’m good,” Iolo said hesitantly, giving Poe a perturbed look.  “You—you okay, Finn?”

 

“I’m great,” Finn answered.  Iolo shifted to hand Poe one of the mugs and Finn waved one of his hands and waved.  “Alisha.  Over here.”

 

A frazzled woman, maybe a year older than Finn, hurried over.  She pushed a couple braids out of her face and gave Finn a shaky smile.  “Finn, you’re a lifesaver.”

 

“I like Sour Patch Kids more,” Finn replied easily, reaching down and handing a pink and white baby bag over to Alisha.  “Anyway, Ellie was a dream, like she always is.”

 

“Try living with her,” Alisha joked, shouldering the bag and then adjusting the scarf around her neck until Poe could see it was a baby sling.  “Anyway, guess who called me ten minutes ago, asking where his daughter is, like he wasn’t five hours late?”

 

Finn winced.  “Sorry.  Can I--,”

 

“Can you what, kick his ass?  Why bother?  We both know I’m way scarier than you.”  Alisha reached out, and Finn stood to help place Ellie in the sling.

 

“I was gonna say ‘can I help’ but whatever,” Finn shrugged.  “I don’t mind babysitting, you know?”

 

“Yeah, but there’s a perfectly healthy man who should be watching her, and he actually gave DNA for her to exist,” Alisha said exasperated.  “Did you actually get her to sleep?  Afternoon naps are impossible.”

 

“That was mostly Poe,” Finn said, shooting a bright smile at him over his shoulder.  Alisha looked around Finn to see Poe and raised both eyebrows.  “He knew a lullaby and it worked.”

 

“Uh-huh,” Alisha shot an impressed look at Finn.  “Well you’ll have to catch me up on you and Dolce de Leche later, okay?”

 

“Alisha,” Finn warned lowly.  Iolo shot a smirk at Poe, who responded with a smirk of his own.

 

“What, you show up with hunk of caramel and I’m not allowed to be curious?”  Alisha leaned in a kissed Finn on the cheek.  “Whatever, you know me.  I’ve got to run, but you’ll call me later.”

 

“I’ll do that.  Say hi to Maz for me,” Finn waved as Alisha made her way out, and then shifted to stretch his arms over his head.  His black tee-shirt rode up, letting Poe glimpse a couple of defined abs.  Iolo poked Poe in the shoulder and Poe quickly looked down at his mug and blew on the hot liquid.  “God, I’ve been sitting there for two hours straight.  I’m gonna stretch my legs for a sec,” Finn told Poe and Iolo.  They nodded and Finn headed off towards the counter.

 

“So, why were you and the kid talking about having babies?”

 

Poe groaned, closing his eyes.  “Please don’t tell Bastian or Kylo.  Or Rey, shit.”

 

Iolo laughed before taking a small sip of his coffee.  “I won’t, but seriously.  What the hell?”

 

“I dunno, man.  Finn and the baby—I dunno,” Poe mumbled.

 

“Yeah, he did look kinda like a natural,” Iolo allowed.

 

“He looked fucking calm,” Poe answered.  “I think I just liked that he looked relaxed for once.”

 

“That’s…weirdly sweet.  Who the hell are you?”

 

Poe rolled his eyes.  “I’m not always an asshole.”

 

“Not always,” Iolo allowed.  “But come on.  I’ve never even heard you mention that you wanted to get married someday.”

 

Poe shrugged, looking around for Finn and finding him approaching with Bastian, Rey, and Kylo.  Poe shot Iolo a pleading look and Iolo nodded understandingly.

 

“Ready to head to the beach house,” Rey asked.  “You can get to-go cups for your coffee.”  

 

*****

 

“Hi,” Poe said smiling over at Finn.

 

Finn finished backing his Carola out of the driveway of what Poe assumed was his house.  He shifted into drive before sending a bright smile Poe’s way.  “Hi, Poe.”

 

Poe rubbed his hands across his thighs.  Rey had suggested Finn taking his car out so she and him didn’t have to Uber back.  Then she had left Poe stranded, so obviously Finn had offered him a ride.  And here they were.  The third time ever the two of them had been alone together.

 

“So, how are things,” Finn asked, flicking on his turn signal.

 

“Pretty good.  Clinical is fine.  Board exams are coming up.”

 

“And after you pass them, you’re a real nurse?”

 

Poe snorted.  “Something like that.”  Poe shifted to look more directly at Finn’s profile.  “And you?”

 

Finn’s gaze shot over to Poe before focusing on the road again.  “Well, actually… I kinda wanted to tell you something—it’s not bad or--,”

 

“Damn, hold that thought,” Poe said, holding up a finger and fishing his vibrating phone out of his jeans pocket.  Poe scanned his screen and groaned.  “Sorry, kid.  It’s my dad.  I forgot to text him when I landed.  Do ya mind?”

 

“No, no, go ahead,” Finn beamed.

 

Poe accepted the call and brought the cell to his ear.  “Hey, Pops.”

 

“Pops?  Really, mijo?”  His dad sounded pleasantly incredulous.

 

“Sorry, I’ve got a friend with me,” Poe explained.

 

“Ah.  And he doesn’t speak Spanish, huh?”  

 

“I don’t know,” Poe drew out.  “Ay, Finn, hablas español?”

 

Finn glanced over.  “Uh, donde está la biblioteca?”

 

Poe blinked twice before bursting out in laughter.  “Okay, okay, okay.  Got it.  No, Dad, he doesn’t speak Spanish.”

 

“Did he just ask where the library is,” Kes asked in surprise.  Poe continued to cackle, shoulders shaking.  “Mijo, be nice.  That’s one of those beginner phrases.”

 

“I know, I know,” Poe gasped.  “Finn, I’m not laughing at you, okay?  I—I wasn’t expecting that.”

 

“Tell him his accent was good,” Kes ordered.

 

“My dad says you have a good accent,” Poe passed along, rubbing the heel of his hand against his eye to ease the tears of laughter.

 

“Thank you, sir,” Finn called towards the cellphone.

 

“Did he just call me ‘sir’?”

 

“Don’t get excited.  He’s southern; he’s polite to everyone,” Poe joked, sending a wink to Finn, who stuck out his tongue in response.

 

“Well, I guess that means you arrived safe?”  Kes’s voice muffled slightly to demand, “Dame esa cuchara.”  

 

“Yeah, safe and sound.  Iolo passed out; that’s why I forgot to text you.”

 

“Iolo passed out,” Finn and Kes asked simultaneously.  Poe glanced over to Finn with an apologetic grimace.

 

“Yeah, he’s fine.  Flying’s not his thing.”

 

“Jesus,” Kes sighed.  “Well, keep an eye on him.  Be a good friend.”

 

“Estoy siempre bien,” Poe smirked.

 

“Not sure I believe that,” Finn muttered with a half-smile.

 

“Wait, you understood that?”

 

Finn shrugged.  “I got the gist.  I’m not a complete lost cause.”

 

“Oh, I like this guy,” Kes chimed in, gleefully.  “When do I get to meet him?”

 

Poe rolled his eyes.  “Easy, Dad.  How are you hearing him anyway?  You’re not on speaker.”

 

“His voice resonates,” Kes answered easily.  “Anyway, I should get back.  Keep me posted.”

 

“I will.  Talk to you later.”

 

“Love you, mijo.”

 

“Love you too,” Poe finished with a sigh before ending the call.  “Sorry about that.  He gets nervous when I travel.”

 

“No problem,” Finn shrugged, merging into the left lane as they approached a bridge.  “It was nice.”

 

Poe rolled his eyes.  “It’s weird.  I’m grown-ass adult and I still have to check in with my father when I leave the city limits.  It’s annoying.”

 

Finn chuckled.  “I think you forgot who you’re talking to.”  Poe frowned, wondering what that meant.  “A concerned parent is still kinda a novelty to me.  Like snow.”

 

“Shit, kid,” Poe started.  Finn’s right hand shot out and mashed against Poe’s face without any heat.

 

“Cut that out.  I don’t need the Look.”

 

“What look?”

 

Finn rolled his eyes, replacing his hand on the wheel.  “The ‘Poor Orphan, Pity Him’ look.  I get that it’s reflexive, but seriously.  I don’t need it.”

 

Poe tried to twist his face into something that wasn’t a pitying look, and Finn laughed at his effort.  “Alright, I’ll work on it,” Poe promised.  “Anyway, you wanted to talk to me about something.  What’s up?”

 

“Um,” Finn drew out, glancing nervously over to Poe.  “Well… I’ve been thinking about what I want to do with my life,” he said in a rush.  “Like you said.”

 

“Great, kid,” Poe smiled, privately curious about why Finn would be nervous about that.  “Any ideas yet?”

 

“Well, I was thinking maybe teaching,” Finn answered hesitantly, directing the car to an exit lane.

 

“Yeah?  Sounds like a great idea,” Poe encouraged.  Honestly the kid could have said anything and that would have been Poe’s response.  Still, teaching was good.  “You should talk to Bastian about that.”

 

“Why,” Finn asked, brow furrowed.

 

“Well, when he’s not being a pain in my ass or getting drunk, he’s an education major.  He’s even got a job lined up for when he graduates.”

 

“Are you shitting me?  _Bastian_?”

 

“I know,” Poe smiled sympathetically.  “No one would guess it.  Maybe the kids like him cause he’s basically them in a bigger body.”

 

“What age groups does he work with?”

 

“You’ve done your research,” Poe teased before looking out his window where the scenery had changed to dunes and sand grass.  “I think he’s in K through 2.”

 

Finn nodded, taking a right turn.  “I was thinking maybe—special education.”

 

“Hot damn, you don’t go by halves, do ya,” Poe laughed.  “That’s awesome, kid.  God knows you have the patience for it.”

 

“You think?”

 

“You live with Rey; you clearly have the patience of a saint.”

 

That surprised a laugh out of Finn.  “Come on, she’s not that bad.”

 

“I think that’s called Stockholm Syndrome,” Poe joked, squirming away from Finn’s attempt to poke him in the side.  “Seriously though, that’s awesome, dude.  What did the others say when you told them?”  Finn sent him a sheepish smile and Poe rolled his eyes.  “What am I, your sounding board?”

 

“Pretty much,” Finn said cheerfully.  “And we’re here.”

 

Poe gazed up at the three-story blue and white house as Finn parked behind the SUV.  It looked kinda cozy actually, if slightly all-American with its bright red door.  And Poe could see it was right on the beach.  “Nice.”

 

“Yeah, Luke likes it,” Finn agreed, getting out of the car and Poe followed.  “He basically lives here in the summer, and commutes in for work.”

 

“Sounds like a good life,” Poe said with a bit of envy.  He missed the times when he basically lived on the beach.  He followed Finn up the white-painted wooden stairs, and Finn pushed the unlocked door open.

 

“It’s pretty cool,” Finn said as though he was still trying to wrap his head around it.  He looked like he was taking in the open first floor for the first time, like Poe was.

 

“Finally, you made it,” Rey shouted, waving at them from the kitchen.  Kylo and Bastian were lounging against the large wooden island, sodas and chip bags open in front of them.  “Dad stocked the kitchen!”

 

“Woah,” Poe said, picking up a bag of salt and vinegar chips.  “He didn’t have to.”

 

“I’ll have to see him,” Kylo grumbled, popping a Frito into his mouth.

 

Rey rolled her eyes.  “You’re such a drama queen.  Just send him a text.”

 

Bastian sent Poe a questioning glance and Poe shrugged in response, stuffing a few chips in his mouth.  He hadn’t realized how hungry he was.

 

“Poe, you’re in yellow room,” Rey chimed.  “If that’s okay with Finn,” she added with a wink to her brother.

 

“I’m infuriated but am attempting to hide it,” Finn deadpanned.  Poe snorted, covering his mouth. 

 

“It’s the second door on the right on the second floor,” Rey told Poe.  He got the idea he was supposed to leave.

 

“Alright, I’ll take my bags up,” Poe said, heading towards the stairs where his bags had been left.  He paused next to Finn for a moment, who smiled, so Poe figured whatever was going on wasn’t bad.  He was halfway up the stairs, messenger bag over one shoulder and duffle bag over the other, when footsteps joined him on the stairs.

 

“Kylo asked me to check on Iolo,” Bastian muttered, coming up beside him.  “He went to take a nap after we got here.”

 

Poe’s eyes narrowed.  “What’s the family meeting about?”

 

Bastian shrugged.  “Who the fuck knows?  Maybe they want to discuss biscuit recipes.”

 

“Sure,” Poe mumbled, dropping his bags on the landing before slowly edging his way back down the stairs.  He kept his back against the wall, pausing where the wall gave way to the banister.

 

“—didn’t tell him,” Rey’s voice drifted over.  “Why not?”

 

“Didn’t come up,” Finn’s voice replied.

 

“Of course it didn’t,” Rey hissed.  “If you don’t bring it up!  It’s not something someone just asks about!”

 

“I can tell him,” Kylo’s voice offered.

 

“No, that’ll make it worse,” Rey snapped.  “Finn, I love you, but you’re being stupid.  Just tell him.  He won’t care.  He’s a nurse, for God’s sake!”

 

“That doesn’t mean anything,” Finn replied angrily.  “Nurses still leave their cases at work.”

 

“I seriously doubt Poe thinks of you as a case,” Rey answered.

 

“That’s cause he doesn’t know I was--,”

 

“Shut the fuck up,” Kylo said, loud enough that Poe flinched back.  “Don’t be a moron.  Just tell Poe what happened and if he doesn’t want to deal with it, then you’ll know.  Torturing yourself over it is stupid.  That’s fucking you up more than what actually happened!”

 

Footfalls behind Poe caused him to turn quickly.  Iolo and Bastian sent him confused looks but Poe just shook his head and gestured for them to go first.  They did and Poe fell into step behind them, plastering a casual smile on his face.  When he re-entered the kitchen, his eyes went straight to Finn, who was leaning against the island, can of Coke in his hands, already turned to ask Iolo how he was feeling.

 

Alright.  Fine.  He could wait.  Poe went back to his bag of chips.  He felt eyes on him and looked to his left to see Kylo staring at him.  Poe raised an eyebrow.  Kylo shook his head and went back to his Fritos.

 

Poe could wait.  Finn wasn’t the only patient one.  Fuck, hadn’t Poe waited three months just to see Finn again? 

 

Then Poe looked at Finn, who’s head was tilted back as he laughed at something Bastian had said, and Poe swallowed drily.

 

What the fuck had happened to the kid?       

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks so much for all the amazing comments and kudos on the first chapter! You are all spectacular! :D  
> A note about the Spanish used in this chapter: My Spanish is a bit weird. I really only ever spoke it with my oma, and I don't think I've ever written it before. (I took German in school, long story.) So I was using Google Translate backwards, writing how I thought the Spanish was spelled and then checking the English to make sure I got it right. Any glaring errors are on me, and I'll be happy to correct anything.  
> Also, the lullaby is real and amazing and you should look it up if you ever need something soothing :)


	3. Sunday, April 3rd

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Early update this week. I managed to get this chapter cleaned up quicker than I expected, and I figured why sit on it?  
> Slight warning: There is the bare minimum discussion of assault in this chapter.

“Look, dude, I dunno what to tell you,” Iolo sighed, leaning back against the headboard of the bed in the yellow room.  Poe paced at the foot of the bed, arms crossed tight and jaw clenched.

 

Finn hadn’t said a goddamn word last night.  He and Rey had stayed for dinner and then had hung around, played some Mario Kart, and in general enjoyed the evening.  Finn had been all smiles and laughs, even had the nerve to throw a wink at Poe when his Princess Peach had beaten Poe’s Luigi by nearly a lap.  Like Poe had any hope of concentrating on anything other than the increasingly terrible possibilities that Finn could have experienced.  By the time Finn had left, hugging Poe on the way out the door, Poe had been almost angry.  He didn’t know what he was angry at, but he was pissed.

 

“There’s nothing on his Facebook,” Iolo continued, focused on scrolling through his phone. 

 

“There’s suspiciously nothing on his Facebook,” Poe corrected, kicking one of the bed legs on his next pass.  Finn’s Facebook was fucking curated; he had exactly one hundred friends and he rarely posted anything, just shared a random video or song occasionally.  No posts from friends, nothing.

 

“Right, okay,” Iolo soothed, glancing up.  “You could—you know, ask the kid.”

 

Poe shook his head.  “He’ll deflect.  Distract me.  You saw him last night.”

 

“I saw him acting like a normal fucking person,” Iolo muttered, going back to his phone.  “Maybe it’s not that serious.  Maybe he had, like, appendicitis or something.”

 

Poe rolled his eyes.  “Why would he be scared to tell me that?”

 

“I dunno,” Iolo groaned.  “All I know is we’ve been holed up in here all morning, looking for something we have no clue about--,”

 

“I know,” Poe snapped, his hands going to his hair, fingers tugging at his curls.  “I know, I know, I know.  It’s driving me insane, dude!  I can’t think of anything—I couldn’t sleep, I feel like I can’t breathe—and I don’t know what the fuck I’m mad about--,”

 

“Poe.”

 

“—Is it that he didn’t tell me?  Does it matter?  I’m not his boyfriend, I’m not family, I don’t know what the fuck I am--,”

 

“Poe, hold on.”

 

“Maybe if I fucking knew what happened, I could figure out what the fuck—ay!”  Poe broke off when Iolo jumped off the bed and grabbed Poe’s shoulders.  “What?!”

 

Iolo kept eye contact as he released Poe’s left shoulder and held up his phone.  “I think—I might have found—I hope I’m wrong.”

 

Poe’s brow furrowed and he snatched the phone out of Iolo’s hand.  He had his browser open to a news article.  Poe’s eyes went to the title in bold.

 

“Fuck no.”

 

He scrolled down, barely reading, but key words jumped out at him. 

 

“Fuck.  No.”

 

“They don’t give the minor’s name,” Iolo said softly, reaching out slowly to lay a hand on Poe’s arm.  “It might not be him.”

 

Poe stood there; he didn’t know how long.  He scrolled back to the top, tried to read through the article properly.  But his eyes felt tight, his throat constricted, the room too small.  Poe bolted out of the room, throwing the door open in his hurry.  He pounded down the stairs, vaguely aware Iolo was following him, saying something.

 

Kylo and Bastian lounged in the kitchen, and turned to stare at Poe when he marched in.  Poe put Iolo’s phone down and slid it to Kylo.

 

“Tell me that’s not Finn.  Tell.  Me.”

 

Kylo barely glanced at the screen before shaking his head and turning away from Poe, heading to the fridge.  Bastian grabbed the phone and began to read.

 

“Kylo,” Poe growled, “tell me what the fuck--,”

 

“You just had to go play detective, didn’t you,” Kylo asked, sounding fucking exasperated as he took out a can of Dr. Pepper and closing the fridge before leaning against the door.  “You couldn’t just fucking _wait_.”

 

Poe felt his heartrate increase.  “No.”

 

Kylo opened his soda and took a gulp before saying slowly, “Finn was attacked leaving the soup kitchen he volunteers at.”

 

“What sick motherfuckers--,” Bastian started.

 

“The culprits have been arrested.  They pleaded guilty to assault with intent,” Kylo continued, eyes trained on the can in his hand.  “Best case: they’ll serve six months.  Worst case: they get probation or community service.  No trial—part of the plea deal.”

 

There was a pause; all Poe could hear was a rushing in his ears.

 

“And Finn,” Iolo asked hesitantly.

 

Kylo took a deep breath.  “He was unconscious when Rey and Chewie found him.  He had a couple broken ribs and his left hand was messed up.  But,” he paused, and made an effort to look at Poe, “it was his spine.  The fuckers—I dunno, but the initial prognosis was he might not walk unaided again.”

 

Poe collapsed to his elbows, bracing himself on the island, head bowed.

 

“Obviously the doctor was wrong,” Kylo continued.  “Finn—well, he didn’t take that shit.  He was doing his own fucking physical therapy when he was supposed to be on bedrest.  Now—Rey says he’s back at the gym, says he’s about at 90 percent of what he was before.”  Kylo huffed and Poe felt him draw up next to him.  “Poe, he worked his ass off to be okay by the time you came down.”

 

Poe blinked at that.  “Me?”

 

Kylo rolled his eyes.  “Yeah, idiot.”

 

Poe bit his lip, thinking everything over.  “Why didn’t he tell me?”

 

“You can ask him your own fucking self,” Kylo answered without any anger.  “I know he tried to call you right after it happened, but chickened out.”

 

“Wait.”  Poe pulled his phone out at quickly opened his call log.  He went down, noticing the only person he called was his dad, until he found the time stamp for Finn’s “butt dial.”  February 15th.  “Did it happen then,” Poe asked, turning his screen to Kylo.

 

Kylo glanced at it.  “No, it happened on the 14th, at night.  I guess he did call.”

 

“Fuck, course it did,” Poe muttered, putting his phone down and burying his head in his hands.  “It had to fucking happen on Valentine’s Day.”

 

“Uh,” Bastian interjected, “not sure if the day matters, man.”

 

“No,” Poe groaned, winced.  “But it doesn’t help that that’s his favorite holiday.”

 

Bastian whistled low.  “Shit.”

 

And that summed it up, didn’t it?  The four of them stood in silence.

 

“I need to see him,” Poe said finally.

 

“I’ll drive you,” Kylo offered quickly.  “I need to see Luke anyway.  Thank him for putting us up.”

 

“We’ll all come,” Iolo added.  “That’ll make it less confrontational.”

 

“Who said anything about a confrontation,” Poe asked, almost tired just from the information.

 

“You can’t see your face,” Bastian said carefully.  “You look about three seconds from murder.”

 

Poe scowled.  “I’m not going to hurt Finn.”

 

“Did I say that,” Bastian asked, raising an eyebrow.

 

“Well, this will be a great car ride,” Iolo declared, stepping between Bastian and Poe.  “Let’s go.”

 

*****

 

“Fair warning,” Kylo said, parking the SUV at the curb in front of the old brick house Poe remembered for the day before, “Luke is kinda…weird.”

 

“Weird how,” Bastian asked, unbuckling his seatbelt.

 

Kylo sighed.  “I dunno.  Just—if he says anything off, roll with it, okay?”

 

“Like what,” Iolo pressed, climbing out of the car and going around to Poe’s side as he got out of the passenger side.  Poe rolled his eyes—like they thought he was a fucking bomb.

 

“Look, if he starts quoting Aristotle or Cicero, just smile and nod,” Kylo groaned exasperatedly as he stomped up the stairs to the front door.  Poe saw Bastian and Iolo exchange a pointed look, and he knew it was about him.  Whatever.  Poe plastered a fake smile on his face and followed Kylo; he’d be nice to Luke and then, casually, pull Finn aside and…and that’s where the plan ended, but Poe was always better at thinking on his feet.

 

Kylo took a deep breath and rolled his shoulders back.  Poe reached out a squeezed his friend’s shoulder.  “You okay?”

 

“Been awhile,” Kylo mumbled.  “Even when I came down to see Finn, I didn’t see Luke.”

 

“You came down after—it,” Poe asked hesitantly.

 

“Flew in and out the same day,” Kylo nodded, pressing the doorbell.  “It wasn’t my story to tell,” he added in an undertone as Bastian and Iolo fidgeted behind them.

 

“I know,” Poe muttered back.

 

The front door swung open abruptly and Poe actually took a step back in surprise.  The man holding the door was—younger than he expected.  He had blue eyes that Poe was pretty sure pierced his soul when the man’s gaze scanned over him before returning to Kylo.

 

“Well, this is a welcome surprise,” the man said with an easy smile, stepping aside.  “Come in, everyone.”

 

“Thank you, Luke,” Kylo answered stiffly, leading the way into a foyer.  Luke closed the door behind them and held out his hand to Kylo, who grasped it.  Poe could have laughed at just how uncomfortable Kylo looked compared to completely easy-going vibe Luke had going on.  Kylo cleared his throat.  “These are my friends--,”

 

“Iolo, Bastian, and Poe,” Luke finished, nodding slowly and turning to offer his hand to each in turn.  Poe shook his hand in a daze, and Luke noticed.  “My children do occasionally speak to me.  Come into the kitchen; it’s hotter than hell and half of Georgia today, and I just finished fixing some sweet tea.”

 

Luke started off down a hallway, and Poe turned to Kylo, mouth gaping slightly.  Iolo and Bastian had similar expressions.  Kylo rolled his eyes.

 

“I told you he’s weird.”

 

“He seems nice,” Poe said, almost accusatory.  “You made him sound like a cross between Sherlock Holmes and Jack the Ripper.”

 

Kylo scowled.  “Whatever.”  He shoved his hands in his pockets and marched down the hall, leaving Poe to turn to Iolo.

 

“Am I missing something?  The guy is nice.”

 

Iolo shrugged.  “He makes sweet tea.  That’s cool, I guess.”

 

“How sweet is this sweet tea thing,” Bastian asked.  “Like Chik-fil-a sweet?”

 

“Welcome to the south, dude,” Poe smiled, heading down the hall.  It was a straight shot into a bright white kitchen.  Kylo had a glass in his hand and Luke was pouring tea into it from a glass pitcher, apparently making one-sided small talk.

 

“—and, of course, Rey doesn’t like the part she got--,” Luke broke off with a grin in their direction.  “Good of you to join us.  I have tea, lemonade, Coke, probably Gatorade unless Finn finished his supply…” Luke’s voice trailed away as he opened the fridge.  “No Gatorade, hope that doesn’t break your hearts.”

 

“Uh,” Bastian blinked.  “No?”

 

“We wanted to thank you for letting us stay in the beach house,” Kylo said formally.  Luke closed the fridge and glanced over his shoulder as he shifted over to a cabinet and started taking out glasses.

 

“You’re very welcome.  I hope you enjoy it.”  Luke placed five tall glasses on the marble island and started doling out the tea.  “You didn’t have to make the drive to thank me.  It’s yours whenever you want it, Kylo.”  Luke, like a bartender, slid three of the glasses—one after the other—down the island.  Poe scrambled to the edge to catch the first one, and Iolo grabbed the other two, handing one over to Bastian.

 

“Thank you, sir,” Poe said.

 

Luke’s eyes focused on Poe, narrowing slightly.  “We’ve spoken before, haven’t we?”

 

“Briefly, over the phone,” Poe answered.

 

“Yes,” Luke drew out, “you’re studying nursing, aren’t you?”  Before Poe could respond Luke continued, “Are you the man courting my son?”

 

Poe felt all the blood drain from his face.  Bastian and Iolo both snorted into their drinks, the bastards.  Kylo, thank God, came to his rescue.

 

“It’s not like that, Luke,” Kylo censored.

 

“Shame, I’ve heard good things,” Luke shrugged, smiling down at his glass as Poe choked out a cough.

 

“Is Finn around,” Kylo asked, ignoring what Luke had said with practiced ease.  Luke glanced around the kitchen, as though he was checking the room for Finn.

 

“He went out about an hour ago.  I think he’ll be back soon,” Luke answered before taking a sip of his tea.  “You’re welcome to wait for him; I was just about to watch Jeopardy.”

 

“Where did he go,” Kylo asked quickly, saving Poe from making a fool of himself a blurting out the same question.

 

“He didn’t see the need to divulge that information to me,” Luke replied easily, running a hand through his barely-graying blond hair.  “I assume he went to the gym.”

 

“Is that okay?  Shouldn’t he be taking it easy,” Kylo prodded.  Luke glanced over at Poe and Kylo shook his head.  “They know.  Found one of the articles.”

 

“Ah.”  Luke put his glass to the side and leaned against the island.  “Should I be concerned?”

 

“I just want to know he’s okay,” Poe said honestly.  Because that’s what it was, wasn’t it?  Yeah, he was pissed that no one told him what happened.  But deep down, all he wanted to know was how Finn was—how he was dealing with that shit.

 

Luke nodded slowly.  “Very well.  To answer your questions,” he directed to his nephew, “I trust Finn to know his limits.”

 

“He’s eighteen,” Kylo shot back.

 

Luke tilted his head.  “Yes, I seem to remember that birthday.”

 

“Stop joking around,” Kylo snapped.  Poe got the impression this was how most of Kylo’ and Luke’s exchanges went.

 

“Alright, how about this?”  Luke pushed himself up and onto the island, swinging around to face Kylo, seated cross-legged.  “I am willing to accept that I don’t know everything there is to know about parenting.  I’ll accept your skepticism is justified, Kylo.  But I need you to accept that I do have a grasp on the situation.  I have spoken to Finn, and I have his assurance that he knows what he’s doing.  He knows I’m here if and when he needs me.  He is creating a support system for himself, a routine.  That’s healthy, Kylo.  What Finn is doing is healthy and understandable and I would be more concerned if he wasn’t pushing himself.”

 

Poe glanced over at Iolo.  “He’s a shrink,” he whispered surprised.

 

“In my free time,” Luke said drily, looking over at Poe.  “When I’m not attempting to parent.”

 

“Hey, I’m back!”  A door at the far left of the kitchen opened and Finn strolled in, gym bag over one shoulder and kicking off his sneakers.  He dropped his keys into a bowl on a side table by the door before he looked up and took in the scene.  “Uh, what’s going on?”

 

“Poe would like to speak to you,” Luke said, not moving from his place on the island.  “What should we do for dinner?”

 

Finn’s eyes went straight to Poe’s face, and gulped.  “Okay.  Uh, I’ll eat anything.”

 

“Unhelpful but informative,” Luke drawled, jumping off the counter.  “Let’s head into the family room.  We can turn on Jeopardy and pretend we’re not eavesdropping,” he said, taking Iolo by the elbow and steering him out of the kitchen.  Bastian shot Poe a hesitant look.

 

“It’s fine,” Poe mumbled.  Bastian nodded, grabbing Kylo, who was attempting to communicate with Finn without talking, and pulled him away.  Leaving Poe and Finn staring at each other from across the kitchen.  “Well--,”

 

“We could talk outside,” Finn offered quickly.  He jerked his thumb at the door behind him.

 

“Whatever makes you comfortable,” Poe replied.

 

Finn blinked.  “You know.”

 

“There was an article,” Poe allowed, taking a step towards Finn, who didn’t move.

 

“Yeah, there’s a lot of those,” Finn sighed, glancing down at his shoes.  “What did this one say?”

 

Poe swallowed.  “This one was about a black minor who was assaulted by three men on Valentine’s Day.”

 

Finn’s shoulders slumped and he turned his face up to look Poe in the eyes.  “Not one of my favorites.”

 

“Are you okay,” Poe breathed, slowly moving until he was standing in front of the kid.  Finn gave a rueful smile, rubbing a hand across the back of his neck.

 

“I’m doing alright, actually.”

 

Poe didn’t believe him.  “You don’t have to lie to me.”

 

Finn frowned, brows drawing together.  “I’m not lying.”

 

“Come on,” Poe shook his head and groaned.  “You didn’t even tell me this happened.  How ‘alright’ is that?”

 

“What?  That’s not—hold on.”  Finn turned his head to look out the window to the side.  He looked like he was thinking something over, so Poe waited, keeping his stance open.  “Okay, I didn’t tell you.  Because—I should’ve told you.  I wanted to, at first.  A lot.”

 

“The butt dial,” Poe said.  Finn’s eyes snapped back to Poe’s face and he nodded.

 

“Right.  But then—I wanted to make a good impression, ya know?  I knew I couldn’t hide it forever, but I thought—if I got better, if I was good by the time I told you… I thought maybe that would help.  Maybe you wouldn’t think I was—broken or whatever.”

 

“Do you think you’re broken,” Poe asked quickly, reaching out and laying a hand on Finn’s bicep.

 

Finn raised an eyebrow.  “Not really, but that’s what everyone else thinks so I figured--,”

 

“I don’t give a damn what anyone else thinks, Finn,” Poe said firmly, gripping both of the kid’s arms now.  “I just—damn it, kid!”  Poe turned away, dragging a hand down his face.

 

“What’re you thinking,” Finn asked, his voice steady.

 

“ _Me_?  What’re you fucking thinking?  You’re the one that—you’re the one,” Poe groaned, closing his eyes.

 

He heard Finn sigh behind him before an arm came around Poe’s shoulder.  Poe barely jerked in response.  Now the kid was gonna comfort _him_.  What the _fuck_?  “I’ve had over a month to deal with this.  You’ve had, what, an hour?”  Poe just shook his head.  “Look, I don’t know what to say.  I can tell you I’m fine.  I can tell you the doctors gave me a clean bill of health.  I can tell you I’ve gone back to where it happened and it was fine.”

 

“I want you to be honest with me,” Poe turned out of Finn’s arm and tried not to glare.  Judging by Finn’s slight flinch, he wasn’t successful.

 

“I am being honest,” Finn frowned, crossing his arms.  “Maybe this is what me being fine looks like.” 

 

“I don’t—,” Poe broke off.  He had to focus; this conversation was going south fast.  “Look, I think you had some…expectations about me coming down here--,”

 

“Uh, I don’t think I was the only one,” Finn interrupted, making a face.  Even though Poe was trying to be serious, he couldn’t help but chuckle at that.

 

“Alright, you have a point.  We both had some expectations.  I think—I’m not sure that’s the best idea, right now.”

 

Finn squinted.  “Because I was beaten up?”

 

“Because you were assaulted and that shit—you need to focus on yourself, kid.”

 

“So, you’re calling everything off?”

 

Poe shook his head.  “I’m saying, let’s pump the breaks.  Keep the status quo.”

 

Finn considered that, biting his lower lip.  “So we still text, but kissing is off the table?”

 

“For now.”  And damn it hurt to say.  Poe knew it was the right thing though: give Finn some space, let him deal with his shit, but still be around as a friend.  It was right out of the fucking book: Supportive Friend 101.  It wasn’t what he wanted, but it wasn’t the worst thing either.

 

Finn seemed to come to the same conclusion.  “Well, it could be worse,” he sighed.  “Alright.  But—when we’re both okay, I still have a chance, right?”

 

God, this kid.  Why was he so fucking _nice_?  “Yeah, kid.  If you’re still interested.”

 

“That won’t be a problem,” Finn said with a small smile.  Poe cuffed the back of Finn’s head.

 

“I’ll hold you to that.”

 

“I’ve been sent to check on you,” came Luke’s voice.  Poe and Finn looked and then exchanged smiles at the fact that Luke had his back to them.  “I’m doing so under protest.”

 

“Luke, this is your house,” Finn laughed, taking a step away from Poe so there was an appropriate distance between them when Luke turned to face them.  “You can do what you want.”

 

“Unfortunately that’s not quite how adulthood works,” Luke shrugged.  “So, what’s the verdict on dinner?”

 

Finn blinked.  “Yeah, that’s what we’ve been talking about.”

 

Poe snorted and Luke smiled and sent a wink in Poe’s direction.  “I thought so.  What else could you two have to discuss?”

 

Finn walked over to the fridge and pulled open the double doors while Poe straightened his back as Luke observed him.

 

“I can make some chicken, but there’s not enough for everyone,” Finn told Luke.  “We could ask Rey to stop by the store after her rehearsal.”

 

“Don’t worry about us,” Poe said hastily.  “We’re going to head out.”

 

“That’s too bad,” Luke smiled.  “We were just starting to get know each other.”

 

“What’s up,” Kylo poked his head around the corner.

 

“I was just saying,” Poe said loudly, “that we won’t be able to stay for dinner, unfortunately.  We have other plans.”

 

“Yes, we do,” Kylo agreed, equally loud.  Finn chortled into his hand and Luke pointed his finger at him.

 

“Don’t be rude, Finn.  Some people struggle with volume control.”

 

Finn fell back against the counter, hugging his arms around his stomach as he laughed harder.  Poe scowled playfully.

 

“Yeah, kid, don’t be mean to us volume-impaired.”

 

“Y’all suck,” Finn gasped, rubbing his eyes.  “Go on, get gone.  Enjoy your ‘other plans.’”

 

“We will,” Poe answered easily, walking around to pull Finn into a tight, completely platonic hug.  “I’ll text ya later, okay?”

 

“I’ll hold you to that,” Finn teased, squeezing Poe tighter.  Poe saw Luke roll his eyes up to the ceiling, and he chose to ignore it.

 

*****

 

“I can’t believe you just left,” Iolo muttered, leaning against the tall table at the second bar they wandered into.  Iolo had called being the DD, which meant he was the only one still nagging Poe, who was rapidly approaching his happy fuzzy place.  Or he would be if Iolo would cut him some slack.

 

“Didn’t leave,” Poe shot back, blinking his eyes wide open.  “Finn gets it.  He needs his time.”

 

“No, you _told_ him he needs time, after he said he was fine,” Iolo pressed, rolling his glass of Sprite in his hands.

 

“Lo, we both know no one is ‘fine’ after being assaulted a month ago,” Poe groaned, kneading his fingers against his temples. 

 

“Everyone is different,” Iolo shrugged.  Poe shot him an unimpressed look.

 

“Uh huh.  Right.  What do ya wan’ me to do?  I’ll do it if you’ll shut up,” Poe snapped.  This had been a long fucking day and he was done with thinking.

 

Iolo glared at him.  “Tomorrow, when you’re sober, you’re gonna see the kid and this time actually listen to him.”

 

“Deal,” Poe said before Iolo had finished speaking.  “Deal, done, okay.”

 

“Poe, there’s a girl who knew Kylo in high school,” Bastian laughed, grabbing Poe’s arm and pulling him towards another table, where two girls Poe was positive didn’t wake up looking like _that_ , were seated.  Kylo was nowhere in sight.  Poe gave Bastian an appraising look, and Bastian shrugged sheepishly.  Fine.  Poe could wingman for a night.

 

“Hey, I hear one of you knew Kylo when he was more awkward and weird,” Poe said, smiling easily.  The brunette with her hair in a side ponytail, artfully tanned, and wearing white to show it off giggled, and Poe figured this was the one Bastian was interested in.  Bastian had slid into the only open seat across from the girl, so Poe opted to lean slightly against the blonde’s chairs. 

 

“Actually, Avery and I both went to Cathedral with Ben—Kylo now,” the brunette grinned, gesturing to the blonde Poe was behind.  She turned to smile up at Poe, and Poe returned it.

 

“Well, you’ll have to tell me the best stories,” Poe told Avery.

 

“I could,” she shrugged, tossing her long hair over her shoulder and standing.  “But we need a drink for that.”

 

Poe shot a look over to Bastian, who was focused on the brunette.  “Sounds like a fair deal to me,” Poe replied easily.  “I’m Poe, by the way,” he added, heading towards the bar with Avery.

 

“Nice to meet ya.  I’m Avery Harris.”

 

“Well, what'll you have, Avery Harris,” Poe asked, leaning against the bar and waving down one of the bartenders.

 

“Whiskey sour,” she told the bartender.

 

“Well shit.  Make that two,” Poe laughed.  “On my tab.”

 

“You’re not from around here,” Avery stated.

 

“Nope,” Poe agreed.

 

Avery nodded.  “Good.”

 

Poe raised an eyebrow.  Well, two drinks with her and then he could claim his wingman duties done.    

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I'm a bit mean in this chapter, yeah? But life is a bit messy so... Some of the things that need to be sorted out will be in the next chapter. And if you're not satisfied with Poe' and Finn's talk, good! You shouldn't be!  
> Thank you to all of your wonderful comments and kudos! You are all amazing and I am extremely thankful :D


	4. Interlude with Luke and Finn

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I was debating how to include this. It's not quite a chapter, and it doesn't follow the format of the other chapters. And there are other "interludes" in this story, so I needed to make a decision and here it is: not every chapter will have a corresponding interlude, but when there is one that week will two updates. That being said, here's the first interlude and I hope you enjoy!

“So, should I start on dinner,” Finn asked, already inching back towards the kitchen after Luke closed the door on Poe and the others.  Luke, bless his heart, could make a bowl of cereal and that’s about it.  In fact, Luke barely entered the kitchen, as if just him being there was enough to cause the microwave to go up in flames.  If Finn could make it there quick maybe he could—

 

“Let’s talk,” Luke said easily, turning off towards the family room.  Finn heaved a deep groan and dragged his feet, following.  “The dramatics are noted.  Take a seat.”

 

Finn flopped down on the couch, ignoring the twinge of pain that shot up his back when he did.  He swung his feet up, and clasped his hands loosely over his stomach.  Luke settled himself on the corner of the coffee table by Finn’s head, and leaned his elbows on his knees.  When Finn had first moved in, he had thought Luke was a complete weirdo, sitting on anything—tables, counters, stairs, wherever. 

 

“What do ya want me to talk about,” Finn started, staring up at the ceiling.

 

Luke chuckled.  “You know you don’t have to sit like that whenever we talk, don’t you?”

 

Finn shrugged awkwardly.  “Just feels natural, I guess.”

 

“So long as you’re comfortable,” Luke allowed.  “Tell me about Poe.”

 

“Well, he’s studying nursing in Boston--,”

 

“Finn.”  Finn glanced over and saw Luke giving him patently patient look.  “Tell me about Poe today.”

 

Finn exhaled through his nose.  “He found out about February.”  He paused, pulling at a hang nail.  “I should have told him sooner.  He was mad about that.”

 

“Well, you can’t change that,” Luke stated.  “Did he understand why you didn’t?”  Finn shrugged.  “Did you tell him why you didn’t?”

 

“Yeah,” Finn answered, defensively.

 

“Okay,” Luke nodded.  “How did the conversation go?”

 

“He wanted to know how I was.  I said I was fine.  He didn’t believe me.  Then he—so I didn’t tell you but--,”

 

“You thought you and Poe would start a relationship when he came down,” Luke finished.  Finn pushed himself up onto his elbows and gaped at Luke.  “I may have spoken to Tyler.”

 

“ _Tyler_?”  Finn sunk back down and covered his face with his hands.  “God, why?”

 

“We share common concerns regarding you,” Luke smiled.  Finn shook his head, wondering how he could get back at his friend.  It would be tricky, seeing as Tyler and the band were in LA for the foreseeable future.

 

“It’s weird hearing you talk about Tyler,” Finn mumbled.  “You make him sound like an adult.”

 

“Age and maturity are not as correlated as some say,” Luke answered, crossing his legs.  “For example, I remember getting called down to the hospital for an emergency psych evaluation.  I thought I was going to be talking to some teenage hooligan.  Instead I found the most polite and kind young man, barely able to sit up on his own, and his very protective friend.”

 

“Alright, you made your point,” Finn grumbled, dropping his hands back to his stomach.  He didn’t really like thinking about when he first met Luke, mainly because he didn’t remember much of it.  Tyler filled him in later, but it still didn’t sit right.  “So, he told you about—me and Poe.”

 

“Not much, but I got the general idea.”  Luke leaned back, giving Finn some more space.  Finn kinda appreciated it.  “I take it that is no longer the plan?”

 

“Yeah, not so much,” Finn sighed.  “Poe thinks I need some time.  Focus on myself.  But he said I still had a chance, once I’m better.”

 

“What does ‘better’ mean to him?”

 

Finn frowned.  “I dunno.  I guess—well, physically I’m not where I was before, so maybe--,”

 

“Do you think that the difference between you being ‘better’ and how you are now is fifteen pounds on a dumbbell?”

 

Finn glanced over at Luke.  “No?  I didn’t know I wasn’t better.  I mean, compared to February, I’m great!”

 

Luke nodded.  “You’ve come a long way.  It’s remarkable.”  Finn shrugged again uneasily.  “When Poe told you that he thought you needed time, what did you say?”

 

“Um.”  Finn thought back.  “I guess I said okay.  I wanted to make sure he wasn’t calling the whole thing off.”

 

Luke’s face twisted slightly at that before he relaxed into a neutral expression again.  “I see.”

 

Finn rolled his eyes.  “What?”

 

Luke huffed.  “This is where I switch from psychiatrist to parent.”  Finn nodded, accepting the shift.  “It sounds like you did what you frequently do when you’re uncomfortable.  Which is appease the other person and hope it all works out later.”

 

“I don’t--,”

 

“And given how your life has been, it is completely understandable,” Luke continued, holding up a hand.  “This isn’t criticism.  But when you do that, it can be mistaken for—someone who doesn’t know you very well will think you agree, when in actuality you just want to save yourself from the situation without upsetting anyone.”  Finn switched from pulling on his hang nail to gnawing on it.  Luke sighed.  “I’m not entirely sure Poe walked away thinking the same as you do.”

 

“You mean, he didn’t mean it when he said I had a shot?”

 

“I have no idea,” Luke said hastily.  “I can’t speak to that.  But I think there’s a good chance that you and he are on different pages.”

 

Finn went back to staring at the ceiling.  He knew he avoided conflict; he had known that before Luke was in the picture.  It wasn't like he was a pushover.  But if someone was arguing with him, it was just _easier_ to say "sure, whatever" and pray that ended it.  That wasn’t a bad thing, right?  Unless he had just screwed everything up with Poe.  Maybe Poe hadn’t meant that Finn had a chance.  Maybe he had wanted to call it off, but felt bad about it when Finn had asked for more?  Maybe Poe had no intention of texting him later or anything?  And even worse, what if he thought that Finn agreed to it?  Because Finn had said "okay" but he hadn't meant " _okay_."

 

Finn sat up, hating the fact that his back pulled uncomfortably.  “I—I’m going to my room.”

 

“Should I call you down for dinner,” Luke asked softly.

 

“I’m not hungry,” Finn muttered, heading towards the stairs.  “Thanks, Luke.”

 

“I’ll bring something up later,” Luke called after him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for the amazing comments and kudos! As always, y'all are spectacular!  
> Next up will be the chapter that picks up the morning after the bar, i.e. "Monday, April 4th" :)


	5. Monday, April 4th

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another early update! Not sure if y'all should get used to this, but it's pretty nice on my end to get these out early :)

“You look like hell.”

 

“Love you too, Kylo,” Poe grumbled, slumping down into the wicker love seat on the back porch of the beach house.  The sunshine would help, even if it killed his pounding head.  Poe kept his eyes shut behind his sunglasses.  “Bastian surface yet?”

 

“Nah, but he was drunker than you,” Kylo answered.  “You want food?  Iolo went to get coffee and stuff.”

 

“Coffee,” Poe moaned.

 

Kylo snorted.  “I’ll text him.  He’s kinda pissed at you.”

 

Poe hummed.  “What did I do?”

 

“Come on, don’t give me that shit.  You weren’t blackout.”

 

“Fine, give me a sec.”  Poe thought back, even though the throbbing was not conducive to thinking.  “Is it about Finn or me winging for Bastian?”

 

“Combination of the two, I think.”

 

Poe leaned his head back, sucking his lips in.  “Well I’m not apologizing for helping out.”

 

Kylo snorted.  “Right.”

 

Poe heard a door slam shut and then Iolo’s voice hollered, “Get up!  I will drag you--,”

 

“Poe’s out here,” Kylo shouted back.  Poe groaned, bringing a hand up to massage his forehead.

 

A shadow fell over Poe’s face and he cracked an eye open.  Iolo glowered down at him like a fucking avenging angel.  The sun off his blond hair even looked like a fucking halo.  Poe was in deep shit.

 

Iolo thrust a Starbucks cup at him, and Poe took it, forcing himself to sit up straight.

 

“Before you start,” Poe said, “I’ll call Finn now if you want.”

 

“He’s in school,” Kylo supplied helpfully.  “Cathedral is strict as hell about cellphones.  If they see it, they take it.”

 

Poe nodded slowly, looking up at Iolo again.  “I’ll call when he’s out of school.”

 

“And you’re gonna tell him you were a moron and that you don’t know shit and that you should have listened to him,” Iolo listed off, glaring.

 

“Yep,” Poe agreed.  Truth be told, Finn hadn’t had the chance to say much of anything.  Poe felt kinda bad that he had ambushed the kid.  So yeah, he had no problem with apologizing and hearing Finn out.  He was still pretty set on keeping things status quo, but he should have given Finn a chance to say what was going on in his head.  “I’ll do that.”

 

“You will also cut the charming crap,” Iolo said, crossing his arms.

 

Poe raised an eyebrow.  “Alright, now you’ve lost me.”

 

Iolo rolled his eyes.  “Look, I know you take wingman duties weirdly fucking seriously, okay?  But last night was bullshit.”

 

Poe frowned.  “What?  I bought her some drinks and sat through dumber and dumber stories about her fucking sorority sisters.  You think I enjoyed that shit?”

 

“You didn’t look like you were complaining,” Kylo interjected unhelpfully.

 

“Bastian was putting the moves on her friend,” Poe said frantically.  “I wasn’t about to screw him over.”  Poe blinked.  “I know for a fact I didn’t touch her or anything.”

 

“That’s the only thing saving you right now,” Iolo snapped, shoving a finger into Poe’s face.  If there was one thing Poe didn’t stand for, it was fingers getting pointed in his face.  But he let it slide this time.  “If you want any kind of a chance with Finn, save that cute shit for him and not random ass chicks at bars.”

 

Poe held up his free hand in surrender.  “Me and my cute shit are closed for business, okay?”

 

“Good,” Iolo nodded, dropping down on the loveseat next to Poe.  “Let’s pretend last night didn’t happen.”

 

“Fine by me,” Poe replied, taking a sip of his coffee.  “Beach day?”

 

“Hell yeah,” Iolo chimed.  Poe and Iolo turned to Kylo, who rolled his eyes.

 

“I’ll give it an hour.”

 

*****

 

Around three Poe and Iolo dragged themselves inside.  Kylo had wandered in and out of the house throughout the afternoon, saying that the sun hated him.  Poe felt like he had at least a start on diminishing the prison pallor thing he had going from the winter in Boston.  (When his dad had gone up to visit Poe last spring, Kes had moaned about how pale his son had gotten.  Poe had bought him a few strong margaritas and Kes had forgotten about it.) 

 

“I think my brain’s fried,” Iolo mumbled, sprawling out on one of the tan sofas in the main room.  Bastian nursed a bottle of Gatorade on the other couch.

 

“Nothin’ like some vitamin D,” Poe laughed, pointing finger guns in Iolo’s direction.  Frankly Iolo was gonna hate himself in the morning if the redness on his shoulders were anything to go by.  Ah well.  Should probably check the house for some aloe vera.

 

“Don’t brag about your sexual prowess to the guy who struck out last night,” Bastian groaned, lifting his arm from his eyes to squint down at Poe, who sat down at Bastian’s feet, can of Coke in his hand.

 

“Gross, dude.  Never call that ‘vitamin D,’” Poe censored, scrunching his nose. 

 

“Yeah yeah, whatever,” Bastian grumbled, replacing his arm over his eyes.

 

“Besides, you were too drunk to do anything even if you had pulled last night,” Iolo said, lazily running a hand through his hair.  “I did ya a favor.”

 

“I guess.  Didn’t think I had that much.  Make ‘em strong down here.”

 

Poe hummed in agreement, picking up his phone that was charging on the side table.  Iolo and Bastian started talking about plans for the night—Bastian sounded like he was putting in a plea for finding a BBQ place, while Iolo wanted to stay by the beach.  Poe typed in his password and instantly saw he had a text from Finn.  Poe’s eyes widened, checking the time.  Almost four.  Finn had to be out of school by now; Poe should call him now.  First, he checked the text.

 

_Finn:_

_Hey! Did ya have a good time last night? :)_

 

Poe considered that.  It wasn’t a stretch to guess that they had gone to a bar or two or four after leaving Luke’s.  Poe noticed the text had been sent a half hour ago.

 

_Poe:_

_Kinda boring.  Bastian got smashed.  You got time for a call?_

 

Poe hit send just as Kylo came almost falling down the stairs.  The three turned to look at him; even Bastian propped himself up out of curiosity.

 

“We have incoming,” Kylo called right before the front door slammed open and Rey stormed in, wearing what had to be a school uniform.  Poe couldn’t imagine any other reason she would be wearing a khaki skirt, a light blue button-up, a blue and white stripped tie, and knee socks.  She also looked furious.

 

“Where is he,” she demanded at Kylo.  Kylo froze, but Rey turned to look around and found the others staring at her.  Her glare went straight to Poe, and he stood up on instinct.  That look was never one to try and sit through.  “You are a fucking jerk!”

 

Poe swallowed.  “Yes, I am,” he agreed quickly, already raising his hands in surrender.  “Is this about Finn?  ‘Cause I’m gonna straighten that out--,”

 

“ _Straighten that out_ ,” Rey interrupted incredulously.  “How?!  How could you possibly straighten it out?”

 

“Uh,” Poe glanced over to Iolo, who shrugged back unhelpfully.  “Well, I’m gonna call him and—let him talk this time and—what’s with the look?”

 

Rey’s jaw was hanging loose, staring at Poe like he had just proposed taking Finn on a date to Mars.  “What could Finn say about it?  You’re the moron who went and flirted with freaking _Avery Harris_ right after you basically turned him down!  What do you think Finn’s gonna say?”

 

“Woah, back up,” Bastian said, fully sitting up as Poe felt the blood drain from his head.  “How do you know about Avery?”

 

Rey threw her hands up in exasperation before asking her cousin, “Didn’t you warn them before you brought them down?”

 

Kylo shrugged.  “Didn’t think it would come up.”

 

Rey rounded on Poe again, still looking angry but also slightly exhausted.  “Charleston is tiny.  Everyone knows everyone.  For example, Avery Harris has a younger brother, Justin, who is Finn’s friend and former quarterback.”  Poe felt his guts twist.  “And Avery knows Justin is friends with Finn, so she told her brother that she saw Kylo at a bar and one of Kylo’s friends was all over her.  And any rudimentary description will rule out these two,” she snapped, pointing her finger from Iolo to Bastian.  Iolo groaned, sitting forward and dropping his head between his knees.

 

“I wasn’t—that’s not what fucking happened,” Poe shot back, his fists clenching at his sides.  “Don’t tell me—Finn doesn’t know, right?”

 

Rey rolled her eyes.  She swung her backpack around to her hip and pulled a small handheld video camera out.  She opened it and started fiddling with it as she marched over to Poe.  She thrust the camera into his hands, pointing at the small screen as she pressed play.

 

On the small screen the image of a crowded hallway came to life, filled with teens in uniforms similar to Rey’s.  The camera moved through the hallway until Finn came into view, wearing khakis and a blue and white letterman’s jacket.  He was standing at an open locker and appeared to be switching out books.  As the camera got close Finn turned and smiled.

 

_“My escort is here.”_

 

_“I told you, pretend I’m not here,”_ Rey’s voice hissed off-screen.  Finn rolled his eyes but closed his locker, clicked the lock back in place, and started off down the hall, the camera first following his back before it hurried to catch up with him.  The camera focused on his profile, except when Finn turned to nod or smile at someone who passed.  Then someone called out and a sandy blond guy, a little taller than Finn, and wearing a letterman’s jacket too came up next to Finn and slapped him on the back.  Poe noticed Finn wince slightly on the screen but he smiled at the guy all the same.

 

_“Sup, Harris.”_

_“Not much.  Sis is back for the week, so I’m basically invisible,”_ the Harris guy laughed.  _“I heard your cousin’s visiting.”_

_“You did?  How,”_ Finn asked, smile clear in his voice as the camera moved in front of the pair.  Harris sent a curious look at the camera.

 

_“What’s with the camera crew?”_

_“I was told to pretend like it’s not here,”_ Finn rolled his eyes.

 

_“How’s that going for ya?”_

_“Harder than you would think,”_ Finn answered before elbowing Harris in the ribs.  _“Who told you Kylo was around?  I thought he was trying to keep a low profile.”_

_“Avery saw him at a bar last night,”_ Harris shrugged.  _“She said he’s down with a few friends.  Apparently one was all over her.  Dunno why she tells me this shit.  She woke me up when she got home—,”_

_“Did she mention a name?  I met some of his friends when I was in Boston,”_ Finn said with an easy smile.  If Poe didn’t know better, it could have been mistaken for casual.  Oh fuck.

 

_“Some Latino guy,”_ Harris replied, stopping in front of an open classroom door.  The camera swung around to focus on Finn’s expression.  His face didn’t give anything away.  It was blank in a way Poe had never seen before.  _“You coming?”_

_“Gonna get a drink.  Tell Beaman I might be late,”_ Finn said smoothly.  Harris shrugged and went into the classroom.  Finn took a few steps away from the door before turning his head slightly back towards the camera.

 

_“Rey,”_ Finn said slowly.  _“You’ll delete this footage.”_

_“Yeah,”_ Rey’s voice came, slightly shaky.  _“Are you--,”_

_“Getting some water,”_ Finn cut in walking away.  The camera stayed on his back until the screen went black.

 

Poe was moving away and dialing Finn’s number into his cell before Rey had the chance to pull the video camera away.

 

“Fuck fuck fuck,” Poe muttered, listening to the first ring.  “Please pick up, please pick up.”

 

“That’s not what happened,” Bastian told Rey.  “He was my wingman; he was talking to Emma’s friend while I was--,”

 

“Come on, Finn, please,” Poe hissed as the second ring came through.

 

“Poe wasn’t flirting with her,” Iolo defended.  “I was dead sober; he didn’t do anything--,”

 

On the third ring Poe heard the call get picked up and blurted out, “Oh thank God!”

 

“Poe?”  Finn’s voice was barely above a whisper.  Poe felt his heart stutter.  “Poe, I can’t really talk now.  I’m tutoring.”

 

“Shit, sorry,” Poe apologized quickly.  He turned his back to the rest of the room, a small bid for privacy.  “I’m so fucking sorry, Finn.”

 

There was a slight pause.  “Uh, it’s okay,” Finn said softly.  “It’s just a call, dude.”

 

“No, I mean,” Poe broke off, biting his lip.  “Look, there’s been a misunderstanding.  A massive fucking misunderstanding.”

 

He heard Finn inhale deeply.  “Yeah, okay.”

 

“Can I see you later?  We need to talk in person,” Poe said, feeling like he was begging.  Hell, give him a second and he would be.  “Please?”

 

There was another pause and then, “Yeah, no problem.  Um, not—not tonight though.  Sorry, but I have two tests and a lab report—but I can come by tomorrow?  After school—yes, I’m sorry, ma’am,” Finn said, louder.  “I’ll be right there.”

 

“Tomorrow is perfect,” Poe breathed.  “I—thank you.  I’m so sorry.”

 

“I’m,” Finn started slowly, “not sure what you’re apologizing for but, okay.  I’ll see you tomorrow, Poe.”

 

“See you then, Finn.”  Poe kept the phone to his ear until he heard the click of Finn hanging up.  Poe dropped his arm, bowing his head and closing his eyes.

 

“You’re gonna fix this, right?”  Poe frowned and looked over his shoulder at Rey.  She shrugged.  “It’s just, my brother—he’s a good person.”

 

“I know.  I knew within minutes of meeting him,” Poe answered.  “If he’ll let me, I’ll try to fix it.”

 

Rey looked down at the camera in her hands.  “I have to get to rehearsal.  Good luck.”

 

Poe watched her head back to the door and leave, closing the door behind her. 

 

“So.”  Bastian gave a half-hearted smile as everyone’s attention turned to him.  “Is there a BBQ place somewhere close?”

 

“Bring me back something,” Poe muttered, sliding past them and heading up the stairs to the room he was staying in.  He collapsed face first on the unmade bed and let loose a string of curses into the comforter.  When he finally stopped to breathe, he felt the mattress dip next to his head and then there was a hand in his hair.

 

“So everything’s a little fucked up now,” Iolo’s voice said softly.

 

“I fucked it up,” Poe mumbled, turning his head slightly.

 

“Yeah, that’s on you.  But Finn seems open to talking.”

 

“He’s the fucking adult and I’m the idiot teen,” Poe groaned.

 

“Kinda ironic,” Iolo grimaced.

 

“Yeah.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So Poe's in a right mess. If you're wondering what Finn's thinking, keep an eye out for the next Interlude. It will go up tomorrow night or the next day.  
> Thank you all for the comments and kudos! They really do encourage me when I'm writing. All of you are awesome!


	6. Interlude with Finn and Tyler

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Early updates for the win! :D

Finn had his shoes off and was on his way up the stairs before the front door closed.  Out of the corner of his eye he saw Luke poke his head out of his study but he kept going.  Luke wasn’t usually home when Finn came back from tutoring, and normally Finn might wonder why he was here but not now.  Finn made sure to close his bedroom door quietly and then fished his phone out of his backpack, selecting the first number on speed dial.  He eyed his desk as he dropped his backpack on the ground; he decided against it—first, he wasn’t a child and second, his back was already sore.

 

“Tyler’s phone.”

 

“Matt, are ya busy,” Finn asked, crawling up his bed.

 

“Everything okay?  Is this an Under the Desk Talk,” Matt’s voice asked concerned over the phone.  Finn rolled his eyes and slumped back against his pillows.

 

“I don’t do that anymore, man.  I’m eighteen!”

 

“But if you did, would this be a UDT?”

 

Finn sighed.  “Maybe?”

 

“Okay, hold on a sec.  I’m getting him now.  He’s listening to the new single for the three hundredth time today.  He thinks we should do another layover vocal on the final chorus.  I think it would sound like a fucking gospel choir, but no one listens to me.”

 

“When does it come out?”  Finn rubbed his wrist against his nose.  He knew Matt was trying to distract him, but that was Matt’s thing and it wasn’t terrible.

 

“Wednesday, hopefully.  Give the stations enough time to pick it up before the weekend.  Okay, Finn, here’s Tyler.”

 

“Hey, sweetheart,” Tyler’s voice came through the phone.  “What’s up?”

 

Finn groaned, trying to figure out where to start.

 

“Well, sounds like you’re having a blast,” Tyler laughed.  “You home?”

 

“Yeah.”

 

“Then get your ass on Skype.”

 

“Okay okay.”  Finn scooted across his bed, grabbed his laptop off his desk, and then made his way back to the pillows, keeping his cell to his ear.  He couldn’t really hear anything on the other end, but he knew Tyler hadn’t hung up.  Finn put in his password and signed into Skype.  Immediately he had an incoming call.  He cracked a smile as he accepted the video call.

 

“You look different,” Finn blurted out.  Tyler chuckled, hanging up the phone call and pushing the curtain of brown bangs out of his eyes.

 

“Yeah, it’s getting long.  I should cut it.  And the pink bits are faded.  I’m thinking purple next.”

 

“Purple’s cool,” Finn agreed, nodding absently.

 

Tyler raised an eyebrow.  “Uh huh.  Well, if you’re done with my looks, why don’t you tell me what’s going on.”

 

“Did you talk to Luke,” Finn asked, eyes narrowing in suspicion. 

 

Tyler blinked.  He reached out of view and brought back a water bottle.  “I haven’t spoken to Luke since you got outta the hospital.”

 

“Really?”

 

“Yeah,” Tyler drew out, unscrewing the cap of his bottle.  “It’s not like we stay up late chatting over a nice red.”

 

“But he said you told him about me and Poe,” Finn pressed.

 

“Yeah, in February,” Tyler shrugged.  Finn stared at him as Tyler took a swallow of water.  Tyler sent Finn a knowing look.  “What happened with Poe?”

 

“I screwed everything up,” Finn admitted quietly, looking down at his hands.

 

“No, you didn’t,” Tyler answered matter-of-factly.

 

“How do you know?”

 

“Because you’ve screwed up a total of two things in your life.”  Tyler was smirking when Finn glanced back up at the screen.  “Odds are you’re overthinking whatever the hell it is.”

 

Finn shook his head.  “You sure you’re not talking to Luke?”

 

“Trust me, talking to his son’s weird twenty-two-year-old friend can’t be high on his priority list,” Tyler teased.  “So something happened with Poe and you’re freaking out.”

 

“He found out about the whole thing--,”

 

“Yeah, that little assault thing,” Tyler interrupted, rolling his eyes.  “Did you tell him?  He’s down there, right?”

 

“Yeah, he’s here.  I didn’t tell him.  He found some article.”  Finn shrugged at Tyler’s questioning hum.  “I don’t know how.  But he did and put the pieces together, I dunno.  And he came over yesterday and he was pissed.”

 

“Why?  What the fuck does he have to be mad about?”  Tyler looked personally insulted and Finn raised an eyebrow.

 

“I didn’t tell him sooner?”

 

“Whatever,” Tyler mumbled before taking another gulp of water.  “So what happened?”

 

“He kinda called everything off.  Still—whatever we were doing, but nothing else,” Finn muttered.  “And I went with it, ya know?”

 

“Yeah, I know.  You do that.”  Tyler shrugged at Finn’s glare.  “I do it too.  It’s whatever.”

 

“So he leaves, and goes to a bar and spends the night with my friend’s sister--,”

 

“Woah, hold the fucking _phone_!”  Tyler sat up straighter, adjusting the camera as he did so.  “What the _hell_?”

 

“He didn’t sleep with her or anything.  I think they just talked,” Finn clarified, feeling a slight twang in his ribs that his first instinct was to defend Poe.

 

“Talked about _what_?”

 

“I dunno, I wasn’t there!”

 

“Did you ask him,” Tyler demanded.

 

Finn shook his head and Tyler tossed his head back with a groan.  “But what if he thought I had called it off,” Finn continued quickly.  “Because I agreed, ya know?  I mean, if we’re just friends, he can go to bars and talk to anyone about anything and I just have to suck it up, right?”

 

“Finn, I’m saying this as the guy who spent a week reading his texts to you and typing your replies,” Tyler said slowly.  “You and this guy were never ‘just friends.’”

 

“Well, maybe we are now,” Finn countered with a slight whine.  “Because today he called me, saying there was a misunderstanding.  And he wanted to meet up, and we’re going to tomorrow, and I don’t know what to say or—or anything.  I really wanted this, ya know?”  Tyler had a hand over his mouth and was watching Finn in silence.  After a minute, Finn said, “What do I do, Ty?”

 

Tyler dropped his hand, opened and closed his mouth.  “Huh.”

 

“That’s helpful,” Finn muttered drily.

 

“We need someone who’s had a healthy human relationship before,” Tyler stated.  Finn moaned, burying his head in hands.  “But I’m gonna give it shot, okay?  Come on, work with me here.”  Finn picked up his head.  “Thanks, sweetheart.  So, there’s two scenarios, right?  Either the misunderstanding is that he thinks he’s free and you didn’t think that, or you think he went and found some girl and he didn’t.”

 

Finn frowned.  “But he did go and find a girl.  I’ve met Avery; she’s pretty.”

 

Tyler waved that away.  “I don’t know her and I know you’ve got the looks department on lock.”

 

“You have to say that,” Finn grumbled, scratching one of his ears.

 

“Maybe,” Tyler shrugged.  “I did hold your asphyxiated body in my arms.”

 

“It sounds really bad when you say it like that,” Finn glared.

 

“My bad.  Sorry, sweetheart,” Tyler said.  He cracked a smile, but his eyes were too serious.  “So, forget about that.  What I mean is, maybe he went to a bar, the girl started talking to him, and it didn’t mean anything to him.”  Finn knew he had to look pretty dubious because Tyler’s fake smile eased into a real one.  “I know you don’t have experience with them, but bars are basically playgrounds.  Timmy’s on the swings with Sarah one day, on the jungle gym with Peter the next.  No harm, no foul.”

 

“Really?”

 

“I mean,” Tyler paused, pushing his hair back again.  “Okay, so if I’m in a relationship—actually that might not be a good example.  Matt, okay?  When Matt was dating Crystal and he went to a bar and some girl tried to put the moves on, he’d be like ‘thanks but I’m taken.’  And usually that ended it.  One time this girl was damn persistent and I had to basically help sneak him outta the place.”  Tyler stopped to cough drily.  “Shit, sorry.  Been straining for a bit.”  He took another pull of water and Finn frowned.

 

“Have you been in the studio a lot?”

 

Tyler shook his head and swallowed.  “Nah, we had shows Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.  I’m not used to having bookings so close.  Damn, don’t distract me.  I’m trying to tell you about why being an adult makes no sense.”  Finn held up his hands even though he kinda didn’t want to hear about hypothetical bar situations.  “What I’m saying is that someone can go to a bar and be approached by someone and talk to them without wanting to fuck em.”  Tyler pointed at Finn through the screen.  “The misunderstanding comes if they aren’t on the same page.”

 

Finn shrugged.  It didn’t seem likely, but then again if someone had told him Saturday that Poe would go out the next day and flirt with Avery Harris, he wouldn’t have believed it.  “I guess.”

 

“Okay, so keep in mind that your talk tomorrow might not be the train wreck you’re bracing yourself for.”

 

“I mean, if he says it wasn’t anything and he still wants to be—whatever we were, I’m down and fine.”

 

“No,” Tyler shook his head.  “I get it.  When something goes my way I wanna take it and run too.  But you gotta talk to the guy, right?  'Cause what about the next time he goes to a bar?  You’re eighteen, sweetie, and he’s old--,”

 

“He’s not old!”

 

“—and at some point, he’s gonna go to a bar again,” Tyler finished.  Finn ducked his head again.  “Finn.  ‘Misunderstanding’ means ‘missed opportunity.’”

 

Finn snorted.  “God, that poster sucked.”

 

“I fucking hated that poster,” Tyler groaned playfully, casting his eyes up.  “But it’s got a point.  Don’t tell Maz I said that.”

 

“I won’t,” Finn smiled.  “So we should talk about—uh--,”

 

“You don’t have to script it,” Tyler teased. 

 

“Yeah, you’re right.  I mean, if it’s good news I can wing it.  I don’t know what I’ll do if it’s the other thing.”

 

“Really,” Tyler asked surprised.  “I would’ve thought it would be the other way ‘round but okay.”

 

“What doya mean?”

 

“Well,” Tyler crossed his arms and leaned forward on his elbows, “you know how to deal with people telling you no.  Shit, both of us grew up hearing nothing but no.  No, you can’t stay here.  No, you can’t have that.  No, you’re not allowed.  We’re fucking pros at dealing with rejection.  No one ever stuck around.  I didn’t meet Matt until I was fifteen.  So for a solid fifteen years, no one was ever around for more than a couple months, no one ever wanted me around for more than a couple months.  You didn’t meet us until—what—three group houses and three foster homes?  That’s just how it was.”

 

Finn nodded.  “Yeah.  You and Matt were the first to—stick around.”

 

“And we’re not going anywhere,” Tyler answered firmly.  “So you know what you’ll say if Poe calls it off.  ‘Thanks for the memories and have a nice life.’  If you’re brave, you can throw in a ‘see ya later.’  It hurts and it sucks, but it’s what we know.  It’s all we ever knew until we met up.”

 

There was a knock on Finn’s door.  Finn sniffed, rubbing a hand across his eyes.  “Yeah?  Come in,” he called, holding up a finger to Tyler, asking him to wait.

 

The door opened and Luke poked his head in.  “I made some tea.  Would you like some?”

 

Finn managed a small smile.  “Sure.  I’m talking to Tyler.” 

 

Luke entered the room, two mugs grasped in his right hand.  He switched one to his left and held it out to Finn, who took it.  Luke took a seat on the edge of the mattress, and Finn shifted so Luke could be on the screen too.  “Hello, Tyler.”

 

“Hey, Luke,” Tyler waved.  “How’re things?”

 

“Very good, thank you,” Luke replied, cradling his mug between his hands.  “How are you and the band?”

 

“Great.  We’re putting the finishing touches on the new single.”

 

“My daughter has been listening to your last one non-stop,” Luke smiled easily.

 

“That’s awesome.  Why didn’t you tell me that,” Tyler asked Finn.

 

Finn groaned.  “Because it’s weird.  That song’s about me.”

 

“It’s forty percent about you,” Tyler corrected.

 

“Eighty percent,” Finn challenged.

 

“Seventy-five,” Tyler smirked.

 

“Knew it,” Finn said, sticking out his tongue.  “That line about _Breakfast at Tiffany’s_ gave it away.”

 

“Matt wrote that one,” Tyler winked.  “Can’t blame me.”

 

“Will you be visiting any time soon,” Luke asked Tyler.

 

“Probably not,” Tyler winced.  “We’ve got performances lined up out here.  We might go on tour this summer—opening act, ya know.”

 

“You’re going on tour?  Seriously?  That’s really cool,” Finn beamed.

 

“Don’t get excited, sweetie.  We’re just opening.”

 

“That’s still quite an accomplishment,” Luke said, leaning in.  “You should be very proud.”

 

Tyler ducked his head; Finn could tell he was pleased.  “Thanks, Luke.  It’s a start.”

 

Finn rolled his eyes.  “And I’m the one who can’t take a compliment.”

 

Tyler glared playfully.  “Shut up.”  He looked off-screen and then raised his right hand and signed.  Finn caught the end, <tell him I’m coming.>

 

“You should get back,” Finn said as Tyler turned back to the camera.

 

“Yeah, we need to sign off on this song.  This is the worst part,” Tyler shook his head.  “But listen.  Call me tomorrow, okay?  Let me know what happens.”

 

“Okay,” Finn nodded.  “Tell Matt I said ‘bye.’”

 

“He knows you do,” Tyler assured.  “But I will.  Have a good night, you two.”

 

“Good night,” Luke and Finn chimed.  Tyler smiled before the screen went black as the call was disconnected.        

 

“I really don’t want to talk about it,” Finn said instantly as Luke turned to him.

 

Luke hummed and took a sip of his tea.  “That’s fine.  I’m here if you change your mind.”

 

“Yeah, I know.”

 

“What should we do for dinner?  I was thinking pizza.”

 

“Sounds good,” Finn nodded.  “Extra cheese?”

 

“Of course,” Luke answered, looking affronted.  “Who do you think I am?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Pep talk? What's that? ;)  
> Thank you thank you for all the comments and kudos on the last chapter! Y'all are rock stars :)


	7. Tuesday, April 5th-Part One

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The much-anticipated Talk! Hope y'all enjoy!  
> (Any blatant typos or misspellings are on me. I'm running a bit of a sickness but I wanted to get this up so... :P)

To say Poe was nervous was like saying the Sahara was kinda dry.  He found himself zoning out throughout the day, only brought back when Bastian or Iolo gave him a shake.  He hadn’t slept at all, and forget about food.  And it made no fucking sense.  Yeah, he had fucked it up, but it wasn’t like Poe’s never done that before.  But now this kid was running around in his head and all Poe can think about is how he whispered over the phone, how Finn sent that text when at the time he thought Poe had spent the night flirting with someone else, how the kid had spent the entire night thinking Poe would do something like that.

 

“What time is it,” Poe asked suddenly, picking his head up off his crossed arms at the kitchen island.

 

“3:34,” Iolo answered from his spot on the deck.  The wide glass doors had been pushed open so the kitchen at the deck merged into one space.

 

“Four minutes after you last asked the time,” Bastian added cheekily, stretched out on his stomach on one of the wooden recliners in the sun.

 

“When does he get out of school,” Poe asked Kylo, ignoring Bastian the Jerk.

 

Kylo calmly turned the page of the humongous novel about space pirates he had brought as ‘beach reading.’  “I told you.  They get out at 2:50.  He probably got caught up in something.”

 

“Right,” Poe muttered, deciding Finn had every right if he just didn’t show up.  What did he owe Poe anyway?  Abso-fucking-lutely nothing.  Poe dropped his head back down and tried to muffle the moan of angst that was growing in his chest.

 

“Anyone home?”

 

Poe’s head snapped up and his jaw dropped.  Finn strolled through the front door, tie loosened and the sleeves of his light blue button-up were rolled up.  He caught sight of Poe and made his way over, his hands in his pockets.

 

“You’re here,” Poe blurted out.  He thought he heard Iolo sigh behind him but he didn’t bother to look.

 

Finn blinked, looking genuinely confused.  “I told you I’d come over.”

 

“Yeah, but…” Poe shook his head, trailing off, not sure how to say Finn was too good for this world without sounding like a lunatic.

 

Finn glanced over at the clock on the stove.  “Sorry if I kept ya waiting.  I had to run to the drug store.”

 

“Thought you were off the painkillers,” Kylo said suddenly, looking up.

 

Finn sent Poe a ‘this is what I put up with’ look that seemed so natural Poe was staggered.  “I am.  I’m also not on the birth control pills I just picked up for Rey.”

 

Kylo gulped and blinked awkwardly.  “Right.”

 

“Anyway, wanna go somewhere,” Finn asked Poe.

 

“Uh huh,” Poe nodded helpfully.

 

“Have you explored the beach yet?  If you head that way a little you can see the old lighthouse.”

 

“Sounds great,” Poe agreed quickly.

 

“Cool, let’s go,” Finn said, cracking a small smile.  He led the way out to the deck, unlatching the small gate at the top of the wooden steps that led down to the beach.  Over his shoulder, he said, “I told Luke where I was going, but if he calls…”

 

“Gotcha,” Kylo nodded, going back to his book.

 

Finn started down the stairs, but Poe paused and glanced over at Iolo.  Iolo was watching him and gave him a thumb’s up and a smile.  Bastian, face down, lifted a hand and made a shoo-ing motion.  Well, no turning back now.  Poe climbed down, noticing Finn was sitting on a crate at the bottom, taking his shoes and socks off.

 

“Didn’t realize you had uniforms,” Poe stated and then promptly stopped himself from hitting himself in the face.  What a great conversation started.

 

“Yeah, it’s not so bad,” Finn replied, stretching down to roll up the cuffs of his pants.  “Actually, uniforms would have been great when I was still in foster care.  Easier than waiting for the older kids to hit a growth spurt or the next donation.”  Finn sat up, avoiding Poe’s face, which Poe was thankful for because he knew he had a ‘Poor Orphan, Pity Him’ look going on.  “Ready?”

 

“Yeah, let’s head down to the water.”  Poe started off and Finn fell into step next to him so easily, matching strides.  Finn’s hands were back in his pants pockets and he was watching his feet as they sunk into the soft sand with each step.  Poe chewed his bottom lip, wondering how to start this off.

 

As soon as they reached the firmer sand (the tide was coming in, Poe noticed vaguely) Finn turned to the left and Poe followed easily, like this wasn’t the first time they’d done this.

 

“So who talks first?  You talk first—I talk first,” Finn asked nervously, glancing over at Poe out of the corner of his eye.

 

Poe smiled.  “Guess you did.”  Stay calm, stay calm.  “But—uh—I’m the one who screwed this up, so—I wasn’t flirting with anyone Sunday night.  I know you heard I was, but I wasn’t and I’m sorry.”

 

Finn stopped walking and stared at Poe.  “Seriously?”

 

Poe glanced away and then back at Finn’s face.  “Yeah.  Of course.”

 

Finn stared at him before turning and looking off at the waves.  “I’ll be damned,” he muttered.  “He was right.”

 

“Who was right?”

 

Finn’s gaze shifted back to Poe’s face.  “Tyler.  He’s my—friend?  I guess.  We go way back.”  He shook his head.  “Okay, so what actually happened Sunday?  ‘Cause I’m in the dark except for what Justin told me.”

 

Finn started walking again and Poe did a stutter step to catch up.  “Bastian was talking up this girl and I was talking to her friend.  That’s it.  And I bought her a drink, but that’s just polite.”  Finn’s brow was scrunched as though he was trying to figure something out, so Poe continued, “I was his wingman, ya know?  Do you know what that is?”

 

The surprised a laugh out of Finn.  “Yeah, Poe, I don't live under a rock.”  Finn kept walking.  Poe shoved his hands into the pockets of his board shorts, kicking up some water as the next wave lapped up to his ankles.  “Does that happen a lot?”

 

“What?  Uh, kinda.  I mean, yeah, before.  Not anymore,” Poe stammered, running a hand through his hair.  “Look, I—since I met you, I haven’t been interested in talking to other people.  On Sunday I screwed up, and I’ll own that.  But it’s not something I’m doing every time I go out.”

 

“Seriously?  Since we’ve met?”

 

Shit.  Well, in for a pinch, in for a pound—or however the fuck that saying went.  “Yeah, kid.”

 

“But you called it off,” Finn pressed.  Poe turned his head completely to look at Finn, squinting slightly against the sun.  “You definitely called it off.”

 

Poe groaned, rubbing the heels of his hands against his eyes.  “I wasn’t—I was trying to say that if you need some space because you’ve been through _hell_ , I get that.”

 

“Who says I’ve been through hell?”

 

That drew Poe up short.  “What?”

 

Finn shrugged, stopping too and turning to face Poe.  “Who told you that?  I didn’t.”

 

Poe raised an eyebrow.  “You’re gonna tell me that being assaulted, being told you might not walk again, all that shit wasn’t hell?”

 

“I’m telling you it would’ve been nice if I was the one to tell you what was and wasn’t hell,” Finn said in an oddly level voice.  The only real sign that he was upset was that he crossed his arms.

 

“You weren’t gonna tell me,” Poe snapped, exasperated.  “You had every opportunity on Saturday and--,”

 

“And I wanted one more night!”  A tangle of seaweed washed up onto Finn’s foot and he kicked it away with a glare while Poe stared dumbfounded.  “Is that so fucking bad?  I wanted one more night to look back on, okay?  I figured when I told you what happened and you decided to bow out—I’d let you, because I get it.  But I wanted—I just wanted one more memory of you before you left, okay?  I wasn’t gonna never tell you!”

 

“You thought I’d leave?”

 

Finn shot him a look, like he was annoyed that _that_ was all Poe took away from his piece.  “Duh.  Who wouldn’t?”

 

“I never take the easy way out, kid,” Poe said lowly, honestly.

 

Finn shook his head.  “It’s self-preservation.  Leave the wounded, save yourself.”

 

“That’s not what’s gonna happen to you,” Poe choked out around the lump in his throat.  “Fuck, Finn, why would you think that?”

 

Finn gaped.  “Why would I think that?  Are you for real?”  Poe shrugged helplessly in response.  “Okay, you know what?  I’m gonna tell you.  I was left at a firehouse when I was five weeks old.  In the middle of a hurricane, ‘cause why not?  I don’t remember my first foster home, and from what I’m told that’s a good thing.  My second foster mother dropped me off to school and that afternoon my social worker picked me up, said it wasn’t a good fit.  My third foster family got pregnant about three weeks after they took me in and who needs an adopted kid when you can have your own?  So I was returned.  Tell me, Poe, where the idea that people are gonna leave could possibly come from?  Finn and his fucked-up issues, right?”

 

Poe saw red.  He had thought that was an expression, but his vision swam and went blood red before Finn finished.  Next thing he knew he had the kid in his arms, one arm around Finn’s waist and the across Finn’s shoulders, hand cradling the base of Finn’s skull.  He could feel Finn’s rapid expanding and contracting ribs as he breathed fast.  Eventually Finn’s own arms came up and tentatively wrapped them around Poe’s waist.  Neither made a move to speak or pull away.  Finn seemed content to rest his forehead on Poe’s shoulder and be held.

 

“I want you to listen to me, Finn,” Poe said softly, lips close to Finn’s ear.  He felt the kid shiver but he nodded in response.  “I’m not walking away.  This is me, not walking away.  Nothing that happened to you, nothing you’ve been through, makes me want to walk away from you—from this.”

 

“I don’t know what that means,” Finn whispered back.

 

“Fuck, baby.”  Poe’s grip tightened unthinkingly.  “That means I’m here.  For as long as you want me.”

 

“What if you change your mind?”

 

“Then there’ll be a conversation.  But I can guarantee I’m not gonna leave you because of something you had no control over.”  Poe waited, listening, but Finn just stood, breathing.  He could feel Finn’s breathing slow.  “Tell me what you want.”

 

Finn inhaled shakily against Poe’s neck; in another setting that would have been hot.  Now, however, Poe felt his heart shudder with Finn.  Then Finn took another breath, a steadier one.  He lifted his head, and Poe was relieved to see his face was dry and his eyes met Poe’s straight on.  “I want to tell you how I am actually.  Without you making assumptions.  I want to tell you what happened, not some random article you managed to find.  And then, after that, you can make your decision, okay?”

 

“I already--,” Poe started before he stopped himself.  Finn shot him a stern look; this was important to Finn and Poe respected that.  “I can do that.  Should we find somewhere to sit?”

 

Finn nodded solemnly.  “Yeah, there’s a stone jetty up this way.”

 

“You know the beach like the back of your hand, huh,” Poe asked gently as Finn started leading the way again.

 

“Yeah, I’ve come out here to think—a lot…more than I should admit,” Finn said, eyes starting to dart around to avoid Poe’s gaze.

 

“Are you kidding?”  Poe laughed.  “Kid, I have over six miles of the Miami coastline memorized, not from lifeguarding but because that’s where I went when everything was too much.”

 

“For real?”

 

“My dad stopped asking me where I was, just ‘which mile marker did you pass.’”

 

Finn laughed, and it sounded real and Poe could cheer over how good it sounded.  “Yeah, I don’t have that luxury anymore.”

 

“Luke’s keeping you on a tight leash,” Poe asked.  That didn’t fit the image of easy-going man he had met two days ago, but who knew?

 

“Nah, Luke’s fine.  I mean, he wouldn’t mind if he could stick trackers in my shoes, but he won’t.  Rey though,” Finn shuddered.

 

“Yeah, I can see that,” Poe winced sympathetically.  “She was kinda a lot on a good day before.”

 

Finn groaned, turning towards the derelict stone jetty and started climbing up to find a good perch.  “She’s been impossible.  If I’m five minutes late, she’s calling me.  I went to the grocery store and she followed me—for no reason!”

 

“I’m sorry, dude.  That sucks,” Poe said with a small smile as he took a seat next to Finn, feet swinging above the shallow waves.  For the lack of anything better, he clasped his hands loosely between his knees as he turned to look at Finn.  “So.”

 

“So,” Finn echoed, copying Poe’s body language.  He took a deep breath.  “Valentine’s Day.  I, uh, I was supposed to be at a party.  But I got a call from this soup kitchen I volunteer at, and they were short people—which makes sense because it was a holiday.  Anyway, I said I’d come down.  I would’ve been out by ten, plenty of time to go to the party if I wanted to.”  Finn stopped there and Poe reached out a hand in offering.  Finn huffed slightly through his nose but took it in his own.  “It was a typical night.  I stayed behind to help clean up.  I wasn’t the last to leave, but I did go out the side door.  Closer to the parking lot.”

 

Poe squeezed Finn’s hand.  “You’re okay.”

 

“I know,” Finn replied instantly.  “Well, the side door lets out into a short alley.  Head one way it the street, the other way is the parking lot behind the building.  I headed towards the parking lot.  A car pulled up on the street side.  There were three guys—they started yelling at me.  I ignored them, kept heading to my car.  I heard them get closer, but I didn’t turn around or say anything.  I didn’t see the first hit coming.  One of the guys had a bat.  That’s why my spine was—messed up.”  Finn looked down at his hand in Poe’s grasp.  “I was knocked out pretty fast.  Don’t remember them smashing my hand or anything.  They—the guys didn’t take my wallet, phone, nothing.  Just showed up, beat me up, and left.  Dunno why they did it.  And I was a minor so I’m not supposed to be in the same room as them…I might never know why.”  Finn tightened his grip on Poe’s hand and then Poe watched his shoulders ease.  “After that there’s not much to tell.  No one else came out the side door.  Around eleven, Rey panicked ‘cause she hadn’t heard from me.  The family went into search party mode.  Rey and Chewie—he’s kinda like Kylo’s uncle—went by the soup kitchen.  Found me.  Called an ambulance.  I woke up the next day.”

 

“Fuck, Finn,” Poe breathed.

 

“Yeah, bet the article didn’t say any of that,” Finn said with a slight smirk.  Poe shook his head wordlessly.  “Well, the first doctor said I might not walk on my own again.  But that was bullshit.  I wasn’t even conscious yet.  My body was in shock.  As soon as I got over that I pushed through until I could walk and—and run and everything.  My forty is still kinda high but—,”

 

“Your forty what,” Poe broke in, frowning in confusion.  Finn looked surprised at the interruption but he shrugged.

 

“My forty-yard sprint.  I was at 4.48 seconds before February.  Now I’m averaging 4.51.  But I’m working on it.”  Finn blinked, eyes scanning Poe’s face.  “You’re giving me a look.”

 

Poe was sure his eyes were bugging out.  “Are you serious?  You’re running forty yards in four and a half second?”

 

“Oh, that’s nothing,” Finn smiled.  “My personal best is 4.39, but that was before I started to build up muscle.”

 

“No.  No no no,” Poe shook his head a sat up straighter.  “That’s not ‘nothing.’  That’s fucking insane.”

 

“I mean, it’s a pretty normal time for a player going from high school football to college--,”

 

“Even if that player was in physical therapy for spinal injuries—what—a couple weeks ago,” Poe countered hotly.

 

Finn sighed.  “I forgot you were a nurse,” he muttered.

 

Poe rolled his eyes.  “Finn, you shouldn’t be able to do that.  Physically that’s not possible.”

 

“I mean, you can talk to my PT if you want,” Finn replied, raising an eyebrow.  “I’ve got the green light to return to my old work-out schedule.  Got the paperwork and everything.”

 

“ _How_?”

 

“I dunno, that’s just how I am.  I bounce back quick.”

 

“That’s not— _bounce back_ —what that _fuck_ —no,” Poe sputtered.  “Okay, you know what, sure.  You’re Superman and apparently, the _baseball bat to your spine_ wasn’t fucking kryptonite so--,”

 

“See, it sounds like you’re making assumptions again,” Finn warned lowly.  Poe’s jaw shut with an audible click.  “So first you’re trying to protect me from myself ‘cause I was injured and I need help.  Now I’m telling you I’m doing pretty good and I’m a liar?”

 

“I’m not saying you’re lying, I’m saying you’re crazy,” Poe snapped.  Finn made a move to pull his hand out of Poe’s grip but Poe just held on tighter.  “You should be taking it easy!  Don’t you get that?”

 

“No, I don’t,” Finn glared.  “This isn’t the first time I’ve been hurt or sick or in the hospital, Poe.  This is how I deal.  This is what me dealing with shit looks like, and if you don’t like it, I told you I’d get it if you walk away!”

 

“I don’t want to fucking walk away,” Poe shouted.  “I want to fucking hold you and kiss you and tell you everything will be okay even though it isn’t right now!”

 

“I want that too,” Finn whispered but Poe was on a roll and barely noticed.

 

“I want to be the one you call when you’re too tired to deal with shit on your own.  Because what you’re saying?  You’re fucking trying to repress or compartmentalize or whatever--,”

 

“Yeah, maybe,” Finn mumbled.

 

“—because it’s the easy way out!  You can sit there and say that you not telling me until you were better was about me but it wasn’t.  You didn’t tell me until you were better because _you_ didn’t want to admit to another person that you weren’t okay and—oof!”  Poe broke off as Finn finally freed his hand and lunged forward, arms wrapping tight around Poe’s neck.  For a split second, Poe wasn’t sure if it was an embrace or the first in a series of moves by which Finn would toss him into the water.  As the one-sided hug continued Poe cautiously brought his hands up to rest on Finn’s hipbones.  In Poe’s experience, fighting didn’t turn into hugging this fast.  “Uh, talk to me, kid?”

 

“Why didn’t you start with that,” Finn asked, breath hot against Poe’s neck.

 

“Um, can ya be more specific,” Poe mumbled, even as he adjusted his grip around Finn’s waist to bring the younger man closer.

 

“The holding and kissing and talking parts.”

 

“Ah.  Kinda thought that was obvious,” Poe admitted uncomfortably.

 

Finn chuckled and Poe could feel it in his ribs.  “Well, it really wasn’t.”

 

“Well, fuck.”  Poe pressed the bridge of his nose against the curve of Finn’s forehead when Finn lifted his face slightly to glance up.  “I guess—well, that explains the crossed wires.”

 

“Ya think?”  Finn pulled back more so he could look Poe in the eye.  “To be clear, you don’t hate me and never want to talk to me again?”

 

“No,” Poe said firmly.  “I’m slightly— _slightly_ —peeved you didn’t give me a chance to be there for you.  And I’m kinda annoyed your coping mechanism is physically pushing yourself to the limit.  But none of the means I hate you or that I want to leave.”

 

“And I’m _kinda annoyed_ that you thought you could make decisions for me and that you assumed you knew what’s best for me,” Finn countered, although he was smiling slightly.  “So, if you can work on that, I can work on telling you stuff.  Even though my first instinct is to hide weakness, as my therapist says.”

 

“So, you are talking to someone, right?”

 

Finn rolled his eyes.  “Seriously?  Yeah, every Thursday at four.  Do ya want to talk to her too?”

 

Poe snorted.  “Nah, but I’m glad you’ve got a professional calling you on your shit.”

 

Finn stuck out his tongue.  “Whatever, man.  I’ve got Dr. Greene.  And Luke’s all about talking.”

 

“Yeah, I got those vibes from him,” Poe smiled.

 

“That’s how I met Luke, actually,” Finn added, almost as an afterthought.  “But okay.  So I said what I’ll do for you.  Your turn.”

 

“My turn for what?”

 

“Come on, haven’t you ever seen Dr. Phil?”  When Poe shook his head, Finn shook his head in mock disappointment.  “But you work in a hospital.”

 

“Yeah.  _Work_ —not sit around and watch daytime television, Finn,” Poe replied with a raised eyebrow.

 

“Well, this is the part in the conversation when you tell me what you’ll work on for me so we don’t do this all over again next week,” Finn said matter-of-factly.

 

Poe suspected the extent of Finn’s relationship knowledge came from the TV, but he figured that was something to save for later.  “Okay, that works.  Well, I can listen to you more--,”

 

“ _Yes_ ,” Finn groaned.

 

“Okay, Mister Dramatics,” Poe teased, pinching Finn’s earlobe gently.  “So you’ll talk to me more and I’ll listen, deal?”

 

“Deal,” Finn echoed, scooching back and sticking his hand out to Poe.  Poe tried to school his face into a serious expression as he took it and shook Finn’s hand firmly.

 

“Alright.  Now what?”

 

“Well, I dunno if you have any plans,” Finn said, leaning back on his elbows and blinking up at the sky, “but I would like to take you to dinner and talk about anything but the damn attack and my health.”

 

“Are you asking me on a date, Finn Storm,” Poe teased.

 

“Only if you’re saying yes,” Finn shot back with a smile.

 

“I’m intrigued; count me in.  But you’re not paying,” Poe said as he climbed down off the stone jetty.  He reached up to help Finn but Finn jumped down, landing with bent knees and a laugh.

 

“Yeah, no, you’re not.”

 

“Yes, I am.”

 

“I’m the one taking you out.”

 

“I’m older,” Poe stated, playing his ace.

 

Finn smirked.  “Then you’ll save me three bucks with your senior citizen discount.  Let’s head back.”    

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Is it just me or was that a roller coaster??  
> Thank you so much to everyone who has left comments and/or kudos! All y'all are amazing and keep making writing fun :D


	8. Tuesday, April 5th-Part Two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It was time to talk and now it's time for a little fun :)

“Should I change,” Poe asked, giving Finn’s clothes a side-eye.  Finn tilted his head curiously, giving Poe a lingering once-over Poe tried not to enjoy.

 

“You look good to me,” Finn stated with that unnerving honesty Poe remembered from his visit to Boston.

 

“Thanks, buddy.  But you look like a banking intern and I’m the surfer dude you dragged off the beach.”

 

Finn burst out laughing and stopped walking, hugging himself as he laughed.  “O-oh my G-God.  _Banking intern_?”

 

Poe gave Finn a light shove before continuing down the beach.  “Shut up.”

 

“Okay okay okay,” Finn said, still chuckling to himself as he caught up.  “I’ll lose the tie, okay?  And I probably have some jeans in the car.  That help?”

 

“I’m still gonna put on pants,” Poe grumbled, but he shot Finn a smile to let the kid know he wasn’t actually mad.

 

“Suit yourself.  You look good all the time and it’s not like I’m taking you somewhere fancy,” Finn shrugged.

 

“Flatterer over here,” Poe joked, hating the flush he felt rising in his cheeks.

 

Finn beamed.  “Just being honest.  Ty says I give good compliments ‘cause I mean ‘em.”  Finn stopped suddenly, pulling his phone out of his pocket.  “Shit, I forgot—I told Tyler I’d call him.”

 

“Yeah, you’re gonna have to explain this Tyler guy to me,” Poe said, raising an eyebrow.  “If I have competition, it’s only fair that I know about it.”

 

Finn made a show of gagging.  “Ew.  That’s actually—he’s family, ya know?” Finn broke off, glancing down at the phone in his hand.  “It’s easier to just show you.  But be quiet, okay?”

 

“Uh, okay,” Poe agreed in bewilderment.  Finn sent him a wink before tapping away at his cell, and soon the sound of a ringing phone appeared.  Oh.  Speaker phone.

 

After two rings the call connected and man’s voice said, “Hey, sweetheart.  Hold on a sec.”  There was a sound like a door closing and then, “Alright, lay it on me.”

 

“If you’re busy, I can call back later,” Finn offered.

 

Tyler laughed.  “That’s cute, Finn.  I dunno in what world I don’t take your call, but it ain’t this one.  Besides it’s just Tara and Clyde arguing about song order, and Matt’s in his writing zone.  I’m just hanging out.  So what happened?”

 

“You were right about the bar,” Finn smiled, looking across at Poe

 

Tyler whooped.  “Fuck yeah, I was!  Take that, Matt—thinking he’s the only advice-giving mature fucker around.”

 

Finn snorted.  “Matt said that?”

 

“Subtext, sweetheart.  But okay, so I nailed it with the bar scenario.  Did you still talk to the guy about the other stuff?”

 

“Yeah, I did.  I told him about what happened in February,” Finn paused.  “I also told him about the foster homes.”

 

Poe heard Tyler inhale sharply.  “You okay?”

 

“I mean, it’s something he should know about.”

 

“Sure,” Tyler said with skepticism.  “I usually save the fucked-up childhood stories for the second date, but I’m single so what do I know?”  Finn laughed at that.  “So what happens now?”

 

“Well,” Finn drew out with a smug smile, “now I’m gonna take Poe out to dinner.”

 

“ _Hot damn_!  Well alright, Finn!”  Poe had no idea what the guy looked like but it was clear he was beaming.  “You are a strong, independent young man and you’re gonna take that cradle robber out to dinner!”

 

“He’s not that old,” Finn whined, bottom lip jutting out slightly.  It was adorable.  “You’re gonna be twenty-three in October!”

 

“See, the difference is I’m young and sprightly.”  Tyler laughed at Finn’s groan.  “Chill out, I’m teasing ya, sweets.  You know I don’t give a damn about any of that shit.  Date who makes you happy.  And as soon as they stop making you happy, you let me and Matt know and we’ll handle it.”

 

Finn rolled his eyes dramatically for Poe’s benefit.  “I can handle that myself if it comes up.”

 

“Well, yeah, you could.  But I put six years into raising you, and the only thing I get out of it is the opportunity to harass people who aren’t nice to you!”

 

“Okay, _Mom_ ,” Finn groaned.

 

“Yeah, and don’t you forget it.”

 

Suddenly a different voice came through the phone speaker.  “Ty, I’ve got a ballad!”

 

“A _ballad_?  Since when am I singing ballads,” Tyler’s voice called back.

 

“Since I fucking wrote one,” the other voice basically yelled.  “Get your ass in here and try it out!”

 

“Duty calls, sweetheart,” Tyler said with a sigh.  “A fucking ballad, can you believe it?”

 

“You’ve sung slow stuff before,” Finn answered.

 

“Ballads are different.  But I’ll send ya a recording once Matt works me through what’s in his head.”

 

“Is that Finn,” came the other voice.  “Tell him he needs a haircut!”

 

“Matt says you need a haircut,” Tyler recited.  “Have a good night, okay?  Don’t do anything I would do.”

 

“I won’t,” Finn promised with a smile.  “And I’ll get a haircut.”

 

“Matt with hassle you til you do.  Talk to ya later.”

 

“Bye, Ty.”  Finn hung up the call and slid his phone back into his pocket.  “See?  Zero competition.”

 

“So he’s your best friend,” Poe asked.

 

Finn thought about that, continuing towards the beach house.  “I guess?  He’s—like my big brother.  For a while he and Matt were my only family.  Then stuff happened and Luke came around and—Luke says he thinks of it as co-parenting.”

 

Poe nodded slowly, considering that.  “And Matt says you need a haircut.”

 

Finn snorted but ran a hand over his tight curls.  “He might have a point.  I’ve been kinda busy.”

 

“Kinda?”

 

“Whatever, man,” Finn rolled his eyes before hip-checking Poe in retaliation.

 

“Hey!”

 

“You deserved that and you know it,” Finn smirked.  Poe shook his head with a chuckle.  The pair drew to a stop at the base of the stairs up to the beach house deck.  “I’m gonna check my car for jeans.  I’ll meet ya outside?”

 

“Sounds good.  Give me five.”  Poe clapped Finn on the shoulder and started up the stairs, watching Finn grab his shoes and socks before heading off around the side of the house.  As soon as he reached the top of the stairs, Bastian and Iolo grabbed an arm each and started dragging him into the house.  “Hey!  Ow!  What’re you doing?!”

 

“You’ve been gone forever,” Bastian hissed with wide eyes.  “I thought we had to start dredging for your body!”

 

“I told you it would be okay,” Iolo shot at Bastian across Poe.  “It was okay, right?  You don’t look sad.”

 

“You look kinda confused,” Bastian stated, leaning into Poe’s face.  “What happened?  Was he mad?”

 

“Where is Finn?  Did you say something stupid,” Iolo asked flatly.

 

“You’ll note,” Kylo called from his spot on one of the sofas, where he was reading, “that I’m not saying anything.”

 

“Whatever, dude,” Bastian rolled his eyes.  “You were pacing too.”

 

“Guys,” Poe said loudly, pulling out of their grips, “it’s fine, I’m fine.  We talked—it was a lot.  I’ve gotta change.”

 

“Change?  Why,” Bastian asked, perking up.  Poe shook his head and moved to the stairs.  Bastian, Iolo, and Kylo followed behind him; Poe didn’t bother to close the door when he reached his room and the others filed in and perched on the bed. 

 

“Because we’re going to dinner,” Poe answered, pulling jeans and a white button-up out of his duffle bag. 

 

“No fucking _way_ ,” Bastian shouted.  Poe pulled off his T-shirt and shot Bastian an unamused look.  “You dug yourself out of that hole _and_ got a date?  How the fuck did you do that?”

 

“Actually, he asked me on a date,” Poe corrected, buttoning his shirt, leaving the top two undone.  “He thinks he’s paying, the idiot.”

 

“Yeah, you definitely own him dinner after being a moron,” Kylo said casually.  Poe inclined his head in agreement, rolling his sleeves up.

 

“So, did you talk about the other thing?  The whole You Didn’t Listen to Him thing,” Iolo pressed.

 

Poe grimaced.  “Yeah, that part was harder.  Lotta yelling.”  He unbuttoned and unzipped his shorts, letting them fall to the floor and stepping out of them.

 

“Yelling?  Why,” Kylo asked.

 

“Because your cousin is insane and thinks spinal injuries and trauma can disappear if he runs a little faster,” Poe growled, pulling his jeans up.  “Not that I’m judging.”

 

“Sounds kinda judge-y,” Bastian pointed out.

 

Poe sighed.  “Yeah, alright.  I’m gonna work on it.”

 

“Is he doing anything dangerous,” Iolo asked cautiously.

 

“Depends on your definition of ‘dangerous,’” Poe muttered, checking his hair in the mirror.  “But no, it sounds like he’s doing everything by the book.  PT, therapy, the whole shebang.  I’m just—ya know?”

 

Bastian hummed.  “You’re doing that weird protective alpha thing.”

 

“‘Snot weird,” Poe grumbled, grabbing his wallet from the dresser and shoving it into his back pocket.  “But yeah, that thing.”

 

“Well, don’t be overbearing,” Iolo said.  “He probably gets enough of that already.”

 

“We’re not supposed to let that kind of shit get to us,” Bastian said suddenly.  Everyone turned to stare at him and he shifted uncomfortably.  “What, I’m a black guy from Michigan.  Ya think this is new?”

 

Poe opened his mouth and then snapped it shut, frowning.  Bastian crossed his arms, staring down at his feet.  “You,” Poe asked quietly.

 

“Friend of mine,” Bastian grunted.

 

“Okay,” Poe gulped.  “We can talk—later?”

 

“Nah, let’s not,” Bastian said quickly.  Then he added, “Might talk to Finn though.”

 

Poe nodded.  “Yeah, that—that could be good.”

 

“Give me his number later and I’ll text him,” Bastian shrugged.  “Don’t you have a date to go on?”

 

“Yeah,” Poe swallowed.  “Yep, I do.”  He didn’t move.

 

Bastian rolled his eyes.  “Oh my fucking God, go.  I’m fine, Finn’s fine, the guy you don’t know is fine, everyone is fine.”    

 

“I’ve got him,” Iolo told Poe, resting a hand on Bastian’s shoulder.

 

“Okay,” Poe said, heading out of the room.  “I’ll see ya later.”

 

“I don’t need to be ‘got,’” Bastian called after him.

 

“Everything okay?”  Finn straightened once Poe closed the front door behind him.  He had changed into jeans and had taken off his tie.

 

“Yeah, the guys wanted the deets,” Poe shrugged casually.  “I didn’t tell em anything.”

 

“That’s alright,” Finn said, opening the driver’s side door of his gray Corolla.  Poe did the same on the passenger side and ducked in.  “Kylo knows it all, kinda.  And Bastian and Iolo are cool.”

 

“Your story, your audience,” Poe replied.  Finn snorted, starting the car and shifting into reverse.

 

“That’s deep, man.  I’m saying I don’t care; you can do what you want with that.”

 

Poe squinted across at the side of Finn’s face as the kid shifted into drive and started down the road.  “Really?  Cause before you were yelling about--,”

 

Finn groaned loudly.  “That’s different.  I don’t want to kiss Bastian or Iolo.  I’m not sending out engraved notices to everyone I know.”

 

“You wanna kiss me,” Poe asked, aiming to sound cocking but it came out shaky.

 

Finn glanced over.  “Yeah.  Course.  And you said you wanted to kiss me—don’t think I missed that.”  Finn stopped at a stop sign, checking both ways before continuing.  “But no pressure,” he added quickly, merging into the left lane and directing the car onto a bridge.  “Seriously.  None.”

 

“I think I’m the one who should be telling you there’s no pressure,” Poe hinted, turning in his seat as much as his seatbelt would allow.  “So I’m telling you--,”

 

“That you’re not expecting anything from me and you want to take it slow,” Finn asked, interrupting.

 

“Uh, yeah, that’s about it,” Poe drew out with a slow nod.  “That sound good to you?”

 

Finn hummed.  “I’m no floosy, sir.  Not giving up anything on the first date.”

 

“ _What_ ,” Poe laughed.  “Who even says ‘floosy’?”

 

“Me, obviously,” Finn shot back, directing the car into the right lane and taking the next exit.

 

“So I’ve gotta put in the time before I get a kiss, huh?”

 

“Dude,” Finn smiled, “I expect to be swept off my feet.  Later, though.  This is my date.”

 

“Where are you taking me anyway,” Poe asked, settling back into the seat and glancing out the window.  It didn’t look like any part of Charleston he’d seen before.

 

“Kinda ruins the surprise if I tell ya,” Finn said casually, breaking for a pedestrian.

 

“Oh, it’s a surprise, huh?”

 

“Maybe,” Finn drew out with a grin.  “You got anything against chicken and waffles?”

 

“What kind of monster doesn’t like chicken and waffles,” Poe asked, placing a hand over his heart and acting aghast.

 

Finn laughed.  “Then we’re good.”  He turned down another street.  “How’re you liking Charleston?”

 

“Besides Sunday night when I was an idiot,” Poe said lightly, earning a laugh, “I haven’t seen much.”

 

“Dude, what have you been doing?”

 

“Uh, freaking out?”

 

Finn raised an eyebrow.  “Yeah?”

 

“Pretty much.  Ask Iolo.”

 

“Pass,” Finn grimaced, turning left onto a busy main street.  “But seriously, what’s the point of coming down here if you don’t see the town?”

 

“I think you know I didn’t come down here to see the scenery,” Poe smiled. 

 

Finn beamed at that.  “Yeah, but what about Iolo and Bastian?”

 

Poe shrugged.  “Guess they’ve been enjoying the beach.  And the sun.  We haven’t seen the sun in months.”

 

Finn laughed and then fist pumped as a car pulled out of an on-street parking spot.  He put on his right turn signal and then executed a textbook example of parallel parking.

 

“I dunno how you do that.  Parallel parking is witchcraft,” Poe commented, climbing out of the car.

 

“You and Luke.  He gets out of the car and makes me park for him,” Finn said, shaking his head.  Finn checked the meter, then his cellphone.  “I’ll put in a quarter to be safe, but it’s free after six.”

 

“Allow me.”  Poe took out his wallet and fished a quarter out of the change pocket, dropping it into the meter with a flourish.

 

“What a gentleman,” Finn teased, elbowing Poe in the arm.  “Come on, we’ve got to beat the rush.”

 

“Popular place,” Poe asked, following Finn down the sidewalk.

 

“Yeah, but we’ll get a seat.  No worries.  So Maz has two places.  The restaurant and then the bar across the street,” Finn continued, pointing at a storefront with a green neon sign that read ‘Maz’s.’  “Random fact, when I was thirteen I worked as a dishwasher there.”

 

“Really?”  Poe frowned, wondering if it was illegal for a thirteen-year-old to work in a bar.

 

“Yeah, Tyler and Matt were sneaking me in there most nights anyway so Maz said if I was gonna be lurking around I might as well be helpful.”

 

Poe watched Finn out of the corner of his eyes.  He was smiling softly, at ease, hands in his pockets.  This was one of his happy memories, a nice change from all the terrible ones Finn had shared.  So Poe decided not to question it.  “She sounds tough.”

 

“Tough but fair,” Finn agreed.  “And here’s the restaurant,” he said dramatically, pulling open a faded yellow-painted door.  Poe stepped in, blinking against the bright lights.

 

“Hey!  It’s Finn and Dolce!”

 

“His name is Poe and you’re mean,” Finn answered, sending a glare at Alisha, who was standing behind the hostess podium.

 

She shot a smirk in Poe’s direction.  “No offense.  I’m just messing with Storm here.  Date night?”

 

“Kinda,” Finn answered, grabbing a menu and passing it to Poe.  “How’s the wait?”

 

“I gotchoo, boo,” Alisha grinned.  “They’re clearing the middle booth by the window.  Give em a sec and it’s all yours.”

 

“You’re the best,” Finn said.

 

“Yeah, I know,” Alisha agreed, twisting her long braids into a bun.  “For real though, first date?”

 

Poe glanced up from the menu to see Finn shrug and shift his weight slightly.  “Should’ve happened sooner,” Poe said easily, reaching out to rub Finn’s shoulder.

 

Alisha cooed.  “Adorable.  Y’all can head back.  Your waitress will be with ya shortly.”

 

“Thanks, Lisha,” Finn said, grabbing Poe’s arm and dragging him back towards their booth.  “Sorry ‘bout her.  She’s a lot,” he muttered, sliding down the bench.

 

Poe slid in across from him.  “It’s fine.  Been called worse.  Actually, it’s not a bad nickname.”

 

Finn looked unconvinced but he sent a quick smile at the waitress who appeared and placed two glasses of water on the table.

 

“Hey, my name is Toni, and I’ll be serving y’all tonight.  Can I get ya anything else to drink?”

 

“Lemonade, please,” Finn said instantly.

 

“Same,” Poe nodded, already knowing he was ordering whatever Finn did.

 

“Great, two lemonades coming right up,” Toni grinned and walked off.  Finn sighed and leaned back against the yellow and white polyester padding behind him.

 

“You good,” Poe asked.

 

“Long day.  I had school before this, ya know,” Finn said, rubbing the heel of his hand against his right eyes.  Poe opened his mouth to apologize but Finn continued with a mischievous grin.  “So you said you were in a drag show.”

 

Poe choked and coughed.  “Fuck, you remember that?”

 

“Remember it, picture it frequently, same difference,” Finn shrugged, leaning forward, elbows on the table.  “What’s the story?”

 

“The embarrassing part is I didn’t win,” Poe grumbled.  “Now I’m a loser who dressed in drag and didn’t even look that good in it.”

 

“Come on,” Finn whined.  “Story, pictures, anything, dude!”

 

Poe glanced up through his lashes and saw Finn was giving him the puppy eyes.  He didn’t stand a chance.  “It started when Snap found a durian fruit--,”

 

***

 

“You were right—best fried chicken and waffles I’ve ever had,” Poe said, finishing wiping his fingers with another paper napkin and then crumbling it and dropping it onto the pile of napkins on his plate.

 

“They’ll probably give us cardiac arrest but it’ll be worth it,” Finn agreed, leaning back with his glass of lemonade in his hands.

 

“Y’all finished,” Toni asked, stopping by their table.  The pair nodded contently.  “Got any room for dessert?”

 

Poe snorted.  “Do people ever have room for dessert?”

 

“You’d be surprised,” Toni answered.  Then she pulled out a black check holder and passed it over to Finn.  “Here’s your change.”

 

“Keep it,” Finn smiled, ignoring Poe’s gaping expression.  “Thanks, Toni.”

 

“Alright, thank you.  Have a good evening!”

 

“How’d you do that,” Poe gasped.  “I didn’t see—what did you do?”

 

Finn smirked.  “I’m that good.  Also, you did not get me a senior discount.  What’s the point dating older men if I don’t save money off of ya?”

 

“I’d show you, but you already said you weren’t a floosy,” Poe teased back with a wink.  He was rewarded with Finn’s face going blank and watching the kid visibly swallow, Adam’s apple jumping.  “Too bad.  Looks like you’ll have to wait.”

 

“Maybe we could reconsider the--,” Finn started.

 

“You come in and don’t even say ‘hi’ anymore?”

 

Poe turned to see a woman who couldn’t have been more than 4’9” and could be anywhere from fifty to a hundred and fifty years old.  Her graying black hair was pulled back in a tight bun and her eyes were magnified by thick round glasses.

 

“Hey, Maz.  I thought you’d be at the bar,” Finn said, getting out of the booth and bending down to hug the woman.

 

“I’ve been there all afternoon, restocking,” Maz answered, returning the hug.  Then she let go quickly and turned to Poe.  “And you are?”

 

“Maz, this is Poe.  Poe, this is Maz Kanata.”

 

“Nice to meet you, ma’am,” Poe said, offering a hand.  Maz looked from his hand to his face to Finn’s face.

 

“This one, huh?”

 

Poe blinked but Finn just chuckled.  “Maybe.”

 

“Well, if you have to at least you picked honest,” Maz said, turning back to Poe.  “You are, aren’t you?”

 

“Am I what,” Poe asked.

 

“He is,” Finn replied with a grin. 

 

“What’s going on?”  Poe felt like he was missing half the conversation.

 

“Good.  You don’t need any of the other stuff dragging you down,” Maz said definitively.  “I’ll leave y’all to it.  Drop by again sometime; there’s always dishes that need washing.”

 

“Uh huh,” Finn grunted.  “Yes, ma’am.”  Maz waved and marched off.

 

“What was that,” Poe asked, standing.

 

“She approves of you.  Now Luke, Tyler, and Maz like you.”

 

“Really?  Luke likes me?”  Poe followed Finn out of the place, pausing to wave at Alisha.

 

“I think so?  It’s hard to tell.  The difference between Luke liking or not-liking someone is a millimeter raised eyebrow,” Finn answered, wrapping his arms around him against the chill outside.  “What’s the plan now?”

 

“Well,” Poe said, pulling out his phone.  “The guys are at a bar called the Alley apparently.”  Then Poe remembered the disaster the last time he had gone to a bar was.  “Or maybe I’ll head back to the house.”

 

“The Alley is cool,” Finn said.  “It’s got bowling and arcade games and stuff.  I can drop you off.”

 

“You sure?”

 

“Yeah, no problem,” Finn smiled, jerking his head back towards where he had parked.  “It’s on the way anyway.”

 

“I’ll be the DD,” Poe hurried to reassure.  “Won’t have a drink or anything.”

 

“Okay,” Finn said slowly, giving Poe a confused look.  “Whatever you want.”

 

“I just mean—I’m not gonna do anything stupid like last time.”

 

“I know.  I trust you,” Finn said straight up.  Like it was that fucking easy.  Damn, this kid.

 

“Thanks.  For what it’s worth, I trust you too,” Poe smiled.

 

Finn hummed.  “You’re getting there,” he countered, unlocking the car.  “But if you do wingman tonight,” he continued, ducking behind the wheel, “can ya help out Iolo?  The poor guy has had a hard time with ya it sounds like.”

 

“Hey, he owed me,” Poe shot back.  “He’s the reason I lost the drag show.”

 

“To be fair,” Finn said, starting the car and peeling out of the space carefully, “he is pretty.”

 

“And I’m not?”

 

“You’re too chiseled to be pretty.  You’re—I dunno,” Finn trailed off.  “I’ll think of the word and text ya later.”

 

“You’re ‘I dunno’ too,” Poe teased.

 

“Shut up, I’m not a thesaurus!”

 

“But you come up with ‘floosy’ off the top of your head.”

 

“God, you’re never gonna let me forget that,” Finn groaned.         

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed! Thank you for amazing comments and kudos on the last chapter. Y'all are rock stars :D


	9. Thursday, April 7th

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bit of a shorter chapter this week, but there will be an interlude later this week :)

Much to Finn’s disappointment, Poe hadn’t been able to interest Iolo in anyone at the bar Tuesday night.  ( _“You know I don’t do one-night stands!”  “Look, I’m dead sober and you look miserable.  What if you just go talk to someone?”_ )  Wednesday was one of Finn’s busier days, so Poe was left to his own devices.  He discovered the paddleboards hidden away in the shed next to the house and he and Bastian spent most of the day joking around and trying to throw the other person off like they were jousting.  Iolo gave the paddleboard a try, but after toppling over three times in two minutes he gave up and managed to convince Kylo to go into Charleston with him and give him a tour.  Poe agreed to make some quick chicken tacos for dinner, and denied that he was watching the clock for when Finn’s shift at the soup kitchen was up.  Poe sent the kid a text at exactly 8:30, and was relieved to see Finn’s _‘All good. Heading home. Call you in an hour?_ ’ reply.

 

Thursday found the four of them sleeping late and each of them wandering down to the beach at their own pace.  Even Kylo, coated in a couple layers of sunscreen, laid out next to Poe for a few hours.

 

“What’s the plan for tonight,” Iolo asked later in the afternoon as the group lounged around the kitchen.

 

Bastian cleared his throat.  “I’m going out.”

 

“With _who_ ,” Poe asked incredulous, raising an eyebrow.

 

“It’s not a date,” Bastian explained hastily, rolling his Coke can between his hands.  “Finn and I have been texting.”

 

“Ah,” Poe nodded.  He had asked Finn if he minded Bastian texting him, and Finn had been confused but rolled with it.  “When are ya meeting up?”

 

“Apparently, he’s at the shrink until five.  I’m meeting him at this barber shop around six.”

 

“Why a barber shop,” Kylo asked, peeling an eye open and squinting over from his perch on the counter by the sink.

 

“Kid says he needs a haircut,” Bastian shrugged, rubbing a hand across the back of his neck.  “I could use a clean up too, so it all works out.”

 

Kylo and Poe exchanged confused looks.  “Haircuts aren’t usually a social thing,” Poe drew out.

 

Bastian rolled his eyes.  “Your hair’s different.  When my sister Candace gets her twists it’s a fucking party.  All her friends drop by, wine coolers, all that shit.” 

 

“Really,” Iolo blinked.

 

“Well, it takes hours,” Bastian explained, draining the rest of his soda.  “What else are ya gonna do?”

 

“Remember when you had dreads?”  Poe smiled, remembering Bastian's shoulder-length dreadlocks when he and Bastian had had their fling.

 

Bastian laughed.  “I can still hear my dad’s forty-minute lecture about how he didn’t raise a hood rat.”  Then Bastian smirked.  “But I’ll let the kid know you have a thing for--,”

 

“Don’t you fucking dare,” Poe growled, pointing his finger threateningly at the other man.  The threat was lessened by Iolo and Kylo laughing at him.  “Shut up.  We’re making a pact not to tell Finn anything about those three months.”

 

“Are you fucking nuts?  I’m not making that pact!  I have fucking gold!”

 

“Oh my God,” Poe groaned, burying his head in his hands.

 

“So what are the rest of us doing,” Iolo asked brightly, even as Poe moaned again dramatically.

 

“I’m supposed to go see my paternal parental figure,” Kylo answered drily and Poe picked up his head to see Kylo’s dark scowl.

 

Bastian and Iolo exchanged a look.  “You mean your dad,” Bastian clarified.

 

Kylo shrugged moodily.  “He found out I was down.  Luke probably blabbed.”  Then he turned suddenly to Poe.  “Wanna come?”

 

“Uh.”  Poe swallowed nervously.  He didn’t know how to say ‘no’ strongly enough to convey how much he did not want to do that.

 

“Never mind.  He’s so embarrassing,” Kylo shook his head.  “But I can drive you into town, man,” he offered Bastian.

 

“Great,” Bastian smiled uncertainly with a thumb’s up.

 

“Guess it’s just you and me,” Iolo said, turning to Poe.

 

“You could head down the island and grab dinner,” Kylo suggested.

 

Iolo pulled out his phone and started typing away.  “I saw bikes in the shed.”

 

“Shit, I haven’t been on a bike in years,” Poe commented.

 

“I hear you never forget, like riding a bike,” Bastian teased and then ducked away from the chips bag Poe threw at his head.

 

“There’s a pizza place that has good reviews,” Iolo said, looking up from his phone.  “It’s less than a mile away.”

 

*****

 

“Well, what’s up with you,” Iolo asked jokingly, sitting across from Poe in a booth in a surf shop-pizza place hybrid.

 

Poe glanced down at the menu the hostess had left in front of him, scanning over the weird topping combinations.  “Finn has a father figure who’s a year younger than me--,” Iolo snorted, choking on his sip of water, “—and that kinda weirds me out.”

 

Iolo coughed, slapping a hand against his chest.  “Sorry, what,” he rasped.

 

Poe turned the menu over, reading the drink options.  “Finn has a parental figure who’s younger than me.”

 

“When you say ‘parental figure’--,”

 

“I mean the guy gives him advice, nags him—I think he might have actually taken care of him before, but I don’t have all the info.”

 

Iolo arched an eyebrow.  “Have you met him?”

 

“Nah, but Finn put the guy on speaker phone,” Poe shrugged.  “I think he’s in a band or something.”

 

“Does he have a name,” Iolo asked, pulling out his phone.  Poe smirked.

 

“Alright, Dick Tracy.”

 

“Hey, my dad’s a police detective.  I didn’t hear you complaining about my skills when I found that article about Finn for you, and I had nothing to go on for that!”

 

“You sure you don’t want to be a police officer when you grow up,” Poe teased.

 

Iolo rolled his eyes.  “Both of my brothers are in the police force.  I think Rochester will survive without another Officer Arana.”  Then Iolo waved his cell at Poe.  “Give me a name.”

 

“Tyler.  And there was another guy named Matt.”

 

Iolo tapped at his screen.  “And we can assume they’re from here so—got it!”

 

“Shit, seriously?”  Poe leaned forward on the table.

 

“Don’t doubt me,” Iolo shot back with a victorious grin.  “Yeah, the band is called _Cut for Time_ —lead singer is Tyler Austin, lead guitarist and songwriter is Matt Rose.  Then there’s a brother and sister on drums and bass: Clyde and Tara Bettencourt.  Formed in Charleston six years ago, got started playing at local bars and venues.  Moved to New York, got some attention.  Moved to LA, got a record deal.  Their first single came out last month.  And according to YouTube, another single came out yesterday.”  Iolo glanced up at Poe.  “Sounds like their doing alright.  Wanna see?”

 

“Hello.  My name is Evan.  I’ll be your waiter today.  Are you ready to order?”

 

Iolo waved for Poe to order for them as he went back to scrolling through his phone.  “Yeah, we’ll split a large pizza.  Half margarita and half pepperoni and olives,” Poe said, handing his menu up to the waiter.

 

“Great.  And can I get y’all anything to drink?”

 

“Water is fine,” Poe answered for both of them.  “Thanks.”

 

“No problem.  Your pizza should be out shortly,” Evan said with a quick smile before moving away.  Poe turned back to ask his friend to see his phone, but paused when he noticed Iolo was staring at his screen is amazement.

 

“He’s pretty,” Iolo breathed, almost to himself, but Poe heard it and frowned.

 

“Who’s pretty,” Poe asked, reaching for his friend’s phone.  Iolo slapped Poe’s hand away.

 

“No one—stop!  Leave me—Poe, come on,” Iolo whined after Poe faked with his right hand and then grabbed the cell with his left.  Iolo made a half-hearted effort to snatch his phone away but Poe just shifted down the booth to avoid him.  On the screen a music video had been paused at a close-up shot of one of the band members.  Chin-length brown hair with hot pink highlights, sharp nose with a small silver ring in his left nostril, strong chin—but the eyes.  Poe wasn’t partial to light eyes, but this guy’s gray eyes coupled with dark eyelashes and slightly tan skin? 

 

“I’ll admit, they’re kinda hypnotizing,” Poe said, glancing up at Iolo.  His friend was pouting across the table, arms crossed, and Poe took pity on him.  “Not my type, but I guess he’s pretty.”

 

“Does it say who he is,” Iolo asked haltingly, like he didn’t want to Poe to agree with him.

 

“Well I have a pretty good guess,” Poe replied, scrolling with his thumb.  As he did, he pressed on the video and the song un-paused.  From the phone speaker, a clear, solid male voice came through.

 

_I was there when you fell down_

_I was there when you cried_

_I was there when that lost look came into your eyes_

_And I swear now_

_By every star in the sky_

_I’ll always be there to remind you_

_Baby, you were born to fly-y_

Poe paused the video again, staring down at the screen.  “Well, from context clues, I think you’re drooling over Finn’s ‘father,’ Tyler.”

 

“Fuck,” Iolo mumbled.  Poe shrugged, sliding the phone across the table for Iolo.  “Don’t tell Finn.”

 

Poe considered teasing Iolo a bit more, but he had been pretty nice about Poe’s whole disaster with Finn.  So instead he said, “Not like you’re the first guy to have a crush on a lead singer.  Think you’ll be up for going out tonight?  I’ll DD.”

 

“Is Finn okay with you going out,” Iolo asked, clearly relieved that Poe had dropped the subject.

 

“I mean, I can drop you guys off and go bother Finn,” Poe offered, a smile growing on his face.  Iolo shot him an unimpressed look.

 

“What if Finn has homework?”

 

“Then I guess I’ll be distracting him,” Poe smirked, sliding his phone out of his pocket.  He typed in his password one-handed and was about to send a text to Finn when noticed he had a calendar alert, so he checked it.  “Woah!  Why the fuck didn’t you say your birthday is tomorrow,” Poe accused Iolo, looking up with a slight glare.

 

Iolo shifted and started to fiddle with his straw wrapper.  “I dunno, twenty-three just doesn’t seem as important.  I don’t wanna do a whole thing.”

 

Poe rolled his eyes as he opened a group test with Bastian and Kylo.  “Whatever, we have to celebrate.”

 

“Can it just be chill,” Iolo pleaded.  “We’re leaving the next day, and I’m not flying hungover.”

 

“Fair point,” Poe mumbled, sending off his text.

 

_Poe:_

_It’s Lo’s bday tomorrow.  He wants to keep it chill.  Gotta do something_

“So can we just hang out at the house?  Drinks and food and whatever,” Iolo continued.

 

“Yeah, no worries,” Poe answered, keeping an eye on his texts.

 

_Bastian:_

_Fuck yeah we’ll do something.  Stay at the house?  Finn wants to come_

_Poe:_

_Finn better come.  Tell him to invite Rey_

_Kylo:_

_We can do smores at the fire pit?_

_Bastian:_

_That’s adorable.  Finn says he’ll bring marshmallows_

_Kylo:_

_Cool._

_PS been at dinner with the paternal figure for ten minutes and we’re out of stuff to talk about_

_Poe:_

_That sucks dude_

_Bastian:_

_Finn says Rey can come, but late cause of rehearsal_

_‘Paternal figure’? The fuck?_

 

“Real subtle, dude,” Iolo said drily.  Poe looked up with a rueful smile.

 

“My bad.  We’re gonna make smores and tell ghost stories tomorrow.”

 

Iolo rolled his eyes.  “So long as you don’t make me make those stupid friendship bracelets.”

 

“Nah, we’re not going full summer camp.”  Poe sent a smile over to Iolo.  “But if you’re good, maybe we’ll play some of the pretty guy’s songs for you to drool over.”

 

“Shut up,” Iolo groaned.  “I’m allowed to think someone is attractive without getting tortured over it.”

 

“Sure,” Poe shrugged.  “But it’s funnier this way.”

 

“Whatever,” Iolo grumbled, stealing another glance down at his phone.  Poe tried not to laugh because he knew Iolo was looking at another picture of this Tyler guy.  “He seems nice.  You probably don’t have anything to worry about.”

 

“ _He seems nice_?  You got that out of a picture and a song chorus,” Poe shot back amused.

 

Iolo scowled.  “I’m good at reading people.”

 

“You’re good at bullshitting,” Poe corrected, shaking his head with a smile.  “Seriously, you’re fucking mesmerized; stop staring at your screen.”

 

Iolo shoved his phone back into his pocket.  “Whatever.  I can quit if I want.”

 

“I’m gonna hear you listening to that song at two in the morning,” Poe poked.

 

“You won’t,” Iolo snapped back, crossing his arms.  “I have earphones.”

 

“My bad,” Poe laughed.

 

“Alright, here’s your pizza,” Evan the Waiter announced, placing a short stand in the middle of the table and then a platter on top.  “Careful, it’s hot.”

 

“Thanks,” Iolo said as Evan turned away.  “Which side is mine?”

 

“Figured we’d just share,” Poe shrugged, carefully lifting a slice of pepperoni and olive up and sliding it onto his plate, holding the plate out to Iolo.  Iolo took it and passed his plate over.  “Think Bastian is behaving with Finn?”

 

“Have you met Bastian?”

 

“Right,” Poe mumbled, plating his own slice.  “He better not scar the poor guy.”

 

“I think Finn can handle Bastian,” Iolo commented, waiting for the slice to cool down enough to eat.

 

“If anyone can, it’ll be Finn,” Poe nodded, going for a small nibble of pizza, testing to see if it would burn the roof of his mouth.  It did and Poe dropped the slice back to the plate with a small frown.  “They baked this in the fucking sun.”

 

“Probably,” Iolo chuckled, waving a hand lazily over his slice of pizza to cool it down.

 

Poe felt his phone buzz and he pulled it out, grinning when he saw he had a text from Finn.

 

_Finn:_

_Dashing!  That’s the word.  You’re dashing_

_And now Bastian’s laughing at me cause I just shouted that out in public :/_

Poe laughed at that.

 

_Poe:_

_Thanks, babe.  You’re stunning_

_Finn:_

_…are you for real?_

_Poe:_

_Yeah?  Never heard that before?_

_Finn:_

_No. That’s a first._

_Poe:_

_That’s a crime._

 

“How’s Finn,” Iolo asked with a sly smile.  Poe glanced up, not even embarrassed anymore by how easy he was to read.

 

“He just called me dashing.”

 

Iolo rolled his eyes.  “Oh my God.”      

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope y'all enjoyed the new chapter! Thank you for everyone who left a comment or kudos on the last chapter! Y'all are spectacular!! :D  
> Next up: Interlude with Bastian and Finn :)  
> PS I never claimed to be a songwriter but the little chorus in this chapter came to me and it fits with the feel of the story so I went with it. Let me know what ya think ;)


	10. Interlude with Bastian and Finn

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A little later than I expected to put this up, but I hope y'all enjoy :)

“Man, that fade is fucking _sick_!”

 

Finn laughed brightly, running his hands along the side of his head again.  “Yeah, ya think?  Something new.”

 

“Fuck yeah,” Bastian nodded with a big smile.  He twirled his finger and Finn obliged, turning slowing in a 360 before punching Bastian gently in the shoulder.  “Shoulda let the guy give ya a design.  I mean, the line is slick as fuck but--,”

 

“Man, I’m pushing my luck with _this_ ,” Finn rolled his eyes and shoved Bastian slightly towards the double doors of a diner.  “Here, I’m starving.”

 

Bastian pulled open one of the doors and let Finn lead the way in.  Shouts of greeting rang out from behind the counter and the kitchen.  Bastian shot a look at Finn, who waved back before grabbing two menus and jerking his head for Bastian to follow him.

 

“Popular, huh,” Bastian asked as he skootched into a booth.  Finn slid a menu over to him before dropping onto his side of the booth with a shrug.

 

“Came here a lot when I was in foster care.  The grilled cheese is a buck fifty on the kid’s menu, and usually Tyler could spare that.”

 

Bastian grunted in response, flipping open the menu.  “Tyler one of your foster parents?  Before Luke?”

 

“Nah, he’s four years older than me,” Finn answered, folding his arms over his own menu.  “I got placed in a transition home when I was twelve—for older boys who weren’t gonna get adopted.  I was too young to be there but ya know how it goes.  Tyler and Matt were older guys in the house and they took me under their wing.”

 

“Don’t they feed you in foster care,” Bastian asked, silently cursing himself for sounding like Poe.  If there was one thing in life Bastian actively tried to avoid, it was sounding and acting like Poe Dameron.

 

Finn laughed, not noticing.  “Yeah, course.  But if you miss a meal, you missed it.  Also, transition house.  The guys all had part-time jobs so they mostly fed themselves and the house mother didn’t really cook much.”

 

“Where have you been hiding, boy,” a large woman in a black dress and an apron asked motherly as she placed two large plastic cups of soda on the table.

 

“Been busy, Rita,” Finn answered apologetically, putting on puppy-dog eyes that Bastian guessed would be Poe’s downfall.

 

“That ain’t no excuse for not saying hi,” Rita censored, even though she patted him on the head.  “You’ll have your usual?”

 

“Yes, ma’am,” Finn said meekly.

 

“And for your friend?”

 

“Uh,” Bastian scanned the menu’s first page quickly.  “Pancakes and a side of bacon, please?”

 

“Alright, y’all sit tight,” Rita said, not writing their order down as she turned and head back to the kitchen.

 

Bastian pushed his menu to the side.  “Seriously, man, a swoop or a tribal design or something.”

 

“Cathedral’s got a dress code second only to prison,” Finn sighed, leaning back and running his finger along the shaved line beside his left temple.  “I’ll probably get detention for this.”

 

“Fuck dress codes.”

 

“Yeah, well, private school,” Finn shrugged awkwardly.

 

“I mean, public schools have that too,” Bastian said, banging his straw against the table and then pushing the ripped wrapper off.  “Mine was pretty strict too.  And I couldn’t get away with anything.”

 

“Teachers out to get ya?”

 

Bastian snorted.  “Not like they were vindictive.  My dad’s the principal.”

 

“ _What_?”  Finn shot up with a shit-eating grin on his face and Bastian moodily stuck his straw in his drink and sucking in a long gulp.  Coke.  Interesting.  “You were the Principal’s Kid?”

 

“Yeah.  It fucking sucked.”

 

“I bet!  Man, that’s—how’d you survive?”

 

Bastian snorted.  “Sexual magnetism.”

 

Finn blinked.  “Sarcasm?”

 

“Not really.  I mean, I wasn’t a fucking menace or anything.  But I had a reputation I fucking hated or I made another one that was a bit better.  More street cred at least.  Not that street cred was really a thing,” he added as an afterthought.

 

“Where’re ya from?”

 

“Michigan.  Grand Rapids,” Bastian admitted.

 

“What was that like,” Finn asked.  Bastian narrowed his eyes, wondering what the angle was but the kid was looking at him with blatant curiosity.

 

“Well, my parents are solidly middle class, so it was whatever.  Ma’s a dentist, Dad’s a principal.  Got three sisters who drive me fucking nuts.  Dunno what you want to know.”

 

“When did you decide to become a teacher?”

 

“Aw, Poe’s been talking about me,” Bastian said with a humorless smile.  “I hate when he does that.”

 

“Why?”

 

“Cause he’s usually trying to make me out to be the devil,” Bastian answered, pushing his straw down into his Coke, watching the bubbles bring it back up.

 

“I dunno about that.  I said I was thinking of becoming a special ed teacher and he said I could ask you about majoring in education,” Finn said with a slight frown.  “I thought y’all were friends.”

 

“We are.  But when he gets a new lover he tends to go out of the way to talk me down.”  Bastian held up his hands when he noticed Finn getting upset.  “But Poe’s a great guy and I’m sure you’ll be very happy together.”

 

“Why would he do that,” Finn asked, glancing down at his hands.  “That’s not very nice.”

 

Bastian blinked, surprised.  “It’s nothin’ to get mad about.  I do the same thing.  It’s kinda why exes don’t usually stay friends; we have to defend ourselves when we start seeing someone new.  _And this is Bastian_ ,” Bastian continued raising his voice slightly to mock Poe’s, “ _and we’ve fucked, but he’s a moron and I wouldn’t touch that with a ten-foot pole.  Wanna get a drink sometime?_ ”

 

Finn chuckled, his dark look lifting a bit.  “Still, that’s stupid.  I don’t care about any of that.”

 

“Well, that’s cause you’re a mature fucker,” Bastian smiled.  “Dunno what you see in Poe.”

 

“Yes, you do,” Finn shot back with a smirk.

 

That got a shocked laugh out of Bastian that transformed into a hearty tears-and-snot laughing fit.  “Shit, kid.  What the _fuck_?”

 

The kid grinned victoriously.  “I’m just saying--,”

 

“Got a stack of pancakes and bacon here,” Rita announced, putting a heavy white plate in front of Bastian with a smile.  “Syrup’s by the napkins.  And a burger and fries, no tomato.”

 

“Thank you, ma’am,” Finn said, looking up at her with a bright grin.  “You’re the best.”

 

“Sugaring me up,” Rita said lightly.  “Nice hair.”

 

“Sugaring me up,” Finn teased, earning him a light slap upside the head with a menu and a laugh before Rita walked off.

 

“You’re something else, kid,” Bastian shook his head, reaching for the syrup and drowning his pancakes in it.  He scowled a bit as he got some on his bacon but he figured it was his own fault.

 

Finn hummed around a bite of his burger and shot Bastian a thumb’s up.  Bastian jerked his chin in understanding before setting to work on his pancakes.

 

“Why’d you and Poe break up,” Finn asked casually after about five minutes of silent eating.  Bastian slowed his chewing, wondering if this was about to be his last meal.

 

“Didn’t work out,” he grunted, going to take another sip of his Coke.

 

“Cause of the sex?”

 

Bastian choked, beating a fist against his chest to dislodge the liquid that snuck into his windpipe.  “Say again?”

 

“Well, at Snap’s you said--,”

 

“Shit, kid, don’t listen to the shit I say at Snap’s,” Bastian groaned, rolling his eyes up to the ceiling.  “Poe and I—are better as friends.”

 

“Why?”

 

“Fuck,” Bastian sighed.  It was like he was talking to his little sister when she was trying to annoy on purpose.  “Because—because I’m a Taurus and he’s a Scorpio.”

 

“Bull,” Finn called, crossing his arms.

 

“Alright, truth?”  Bastian leaned forward, bracing his elbows on the table.  Finn nodded eagerly, copying Bastian’s motions.  “The sex was incredible but that’s all we did, and he wanted more and I liked keeping it light so we called it off.  Three months later we saw each other at a party and started talking.  Now we’re cool and I never want to see his dick again.”

 

Finn pursed his lips, picking up a fry and nibbling on it.  “That happened to Tyler.  He was seeing this Columbia law student and Ty wanted to get serious and the other guy was a jerk about it.”

 

“I wasn’t a jerk,” Bastian frowned, thinking back.  “I mean, maybe.  I was nineteen, man—and a normal nineteen, not this weird wise and mature thing you’ve got going on.”

 

“No, I’m just saying I get it,” Finn shrugged. 

 

“Speaking of getting it,” Bastian drew out slowly, shifting slightly.  “If there’s anything else you wanna—stuff Poe might not get--,”

 

“About sex,” Finn asked, tilting his head and eating another fry.

 

“I—sure, whatever.  Or, ya know, about—other stuff.”

 

The kid stared across at Bastian like he was speaking Finnish before he slumped back.  “Oh my God, seriously?”

 

“We don’t have to but—I mean, it’s never happened to _me_ but I’ve been around it and--,” Bastian broke off with a frustrated sigh, scratching his neck.  “Look, neither of us want to do this but I’d feel bad if I didn’t offer.”

 

Finn banged his head against the back of the booth seat.  “I dunno what to tell you, man.  Did Poe set you up to this?”

 

“Nah, but he seemed pretty happy about the idea.”

 

“I think Poe wants me to be in a wheelchair, flinching at loud noises.”

 

“What the _fuck_ ,” Bastian said too loudly.  His shoulders slunk down as other patrons shot him a few glares and shushes.  “He does _not_ want that,” he hissed across the table.  “Poe would cut off his _anything_ to help you.”

 

“I didn’t mean—I know he doesn’t want me _hurt_.  I just meant—he knows what to do if I was, ya know?”  Finn gestured vaguely to his body.  “Like this, he doesn’t know how to help.  Not that I need help,” he added quickly with wide eyes.

 

“Alright, tough guy,” Bastian rolled his eyes.  “You can cut the crap with me.”

 

“It’s not crap,” Finn snapped back.  “Look, it might sound stupid to y’all, but I need this.  Okay?  I need to be fine.  I need to be working out and getting back to what I was cause that’s my way out.  I don’t care if it makes me a coward but I can’t stay here.  Those guys aren’t going to jail, not matter what Luke says.  I can’t walk around, wondering when I’ll see them again and if they’ll recognize me or—or whatever.  And the only way I know to get away is to go to college—fuck, I’m already enrolled in college, but if I can’t keep my scholarship I can’t afford to go.  And the football program?  They want who I was in January.  So I’ve got to get that back, and if none of you get that I don’t care.”

 

“Luke--,”

 

“Luke is great but even he can’t magic up money,” Finn shook his head.  “He can’t afford to send Rey and me to college at the same time.  I need the scholarship.  I mean, I could get a job and move somewhere else but—Ty would kill me.  He keeps going on about how smart I am and how I can’t throw that away.  And I saw what working three jobs did to him and Matt.  If I can skip that I want to.”  Finn’s fists clenched suddenly.  “I had a plan, and three bastards with a baseball bat and issues aren’t gonna take it away from me.”  He looked up suddenly, meeting Bastian’s eyes with a hard stare.  “I can do this.”

 

Bastian swallowed.  Fuck, Poe had lost his heart to a force of nature.  “You’ve got this,” he said lowly.

 

“I’ve got this,” Finn agreed with a sad smile.  “I really do.”

 

Bastian nodded slowly.  He took a long sip, finishing off his Coke.  “Well, if ya need any sex advice you can come to me.”

 

Finn chuckled.  “I’ll keep that in mind.”  He turned his plate and silently offered Bastian the rest of his fries.  Bastian took one mindlessly, eyes drifting over to the jukebox in the corner.  “So, the sex was incredible, huh?”

 

Bastian smirked, shooting an amused look at the kid.  “What do ya want to know?”

 

“Will Poe be mad?”

 

“The way I see it, you’re pretty new to this stuff, right?”  At Finn’s sheepish nod, Bastian shrugged.  “Then he’s got a leg up on some of it.  You deserve a cheat sheet.”

 

Finn beamed happily at that, like Bastian had just given him a present.  “Awesome.”

 

***

“Hey, how was it,” Iolo asked as Bastian closed the front door behind him.  Kylo and Poe were sprawled across the larger sofa in the lounge and Iolo was curled up on the other, laptop balanced on his knees and _Chopped_ on the TV.

 

“Good.  Kid’s new look is sick,” Bastian said, kicking off his shoes and sitting in the open armchair.

 

“Did ya talk to him,” Poe asked, sitting up straighter.

 

Bastian rolled his eyes.  “Cut him some slack, man.  He’s got this.”

 

Poe sighed, looking back at the TV.  “I just want him to be okay.”

 

“He’s good.  He knows what’s he doing,” Bastian answered, keeping the details to himself.  The kid could tell Poe if he wanted to.  “I was telling him about your preferred sex positions and--,”

 

“Shut the fuck up,” Poe yelled, chucking a throw pillow at Bastian’s face.  Bastian laughed merrily, taking it and putting it in his lap.  “You didn’t.  Swear you didn’t.”

 

Bastian clicked his tongue.  “Be quiet, they’re about to open their baskets.”

 

“ _Bastian_.”

 

“Would I do that,” Bastian asked, shooting a bored look at Poe.

 

Poe chewed on his bottom lip before sinking back into his spot on the sofa.  “I guess not.”

 

“Good, keep thinking that,” Bastian said under his breath.

 

“Did you say something,” Kylo asked, his eyes narrowing.

 

“Nope,” Bastian smiled.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... did he or didn't he? ;)  
> Thank you for the amazing comments and kudos! Y'all are absolutely spectacular and make writing this even more fun! :D


	11. Friday, April 8th-Part One

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Who's ready for a party? ;)

“Did we get everything,” Bastian asked, putting the last two plastic bags on the counter.

 

“Think so.  If we didn’t, who’ll know,” Poe answered with a shrug, putting the last six-pack in the fridge.  “Kylo’s distracting Iolo for another hour, right?”

 

“Hopefully,” Bastian said, checking his phone with one hand and tossing a bag of chips in Poe’s direction.  It fell short and Poe kicked it up with his toe and caught it.  “He says he took Lo to some BBQ place and now they’re at a speakeasy.”

 

“Shit, how did we get stuck doing the leg work?”

 

“We don’t know our way around Charleston,” Bastian suggested with an eyeroll.  “When’s lover boy coming over?”

 

Poe groaned.  “Don’t call him that.  You’re on thin ice already.”

 

“Who, me?”  Bastian shot Poe an angelic smile, complete with eyelash flutter. 

 

“Uh huh,” Poe grunted, unamused.  “I know you said something stupid to Finn.”

 

“Well, yeah.  Saying stupid shit is my thing,” Bastian laughed, piling the hot dogs and ground beef packages into his arms and heading for the fridge.  “You also know I breathed when I was with the kid.”

 

“I’ll figure it out,” Poe warned, grabbing all the empty bags and shoving them into the largest of them.

 

“I’m terrified,” Bastian joked, balancing the food against his chest to free a hand to pull open the fridge door.  “So when’s he coming?”

 

Poe started to reply but then his phone started buzzing in his pocket.  Checking the screen, he grinned.  “Speak of the devil,” he muttered, accepting the call.  “Hey, baby.  What’s up?”

 

He heard what sounded like cheering before Finn’s voice said, “Hold on, I’ve got to—shut _up_ , you’re so—okay, Poe, you still there?”

 

“Yeah, I’m here,” Poe replied, concerned.  “Everything okay?”

 

“Everything’s great.  It’s just—oh my God, hands on the wheel!  Ty, Matt’s doing that thing again!”

 

Indistinctly Poe heard another voice over the phone say, “Matt, don’t scare Finn.”

 

“Do you need me to come and get you,” Poe asked, already gesturing to Bastian to pass him the car keys.

 

“No, no, it’s not that bad.  But—uh—well, Tyler and Matt flew in for a surprise visit.  Remember, I told you about them?”

 

Poe swallowed, throat suddenly going dry.  “Yeah, I—I remember.”

 

“They’re supposed to be in LA but the venue they were booked at tonight burned down last night so they decided to do a fly-by.”

 

“Sure,” Poe answered vaguely, mind racing.

 

“So, is it alright if I bring them over to the party,” Finn asked happily.

 

“Tell him we’ll bring alcohol,” came a different male voice over Poe’s phone.

 

“Matt says they’ll bring alcohol,” Finn repeated.

 

“No, yeah, that’s cool,” Poe replied.  “Uh, you don’t have to bring anything.  We just stocked up.”

 

“He says we don’t have to bring anything,” Finn recited.  There was some mumbling in the background and then, “They said they’ll bring some bourbon cause I told them y’all aren’t southern.  Also, does Iolo have a favorite candy or something?  I want to get him something.”

 

“Uh.”  Poe bit his lip, thinking.  “I’ve seen him cry over Fun Dip.  He was pretty drunk at the time though.”

 

“Fun Dip.  Got it.”  There was another pause and then Finn said, “So we’ll be there around six-thirty.  Is that okay?”

 

“Yeah, that’s great.  I’ll see you then,” Poe said, ignoring the curious look Bastian was sending his way.

 

“Awesome.  See ya soon!  Oh, wait—what...Why should I say that...Okay, fine.  Tyler says ‘don’t freak out,’ but I don’t know why you’d be freaking out.”

 

“Huh.”  Poe cleared his throat.  “Tell him I say thanks.”

 

“Okay,” Finn said hesitantly.  “Well, see you in a bit!”

 

“Alright.”  Poe waited until he heard the beep of the call disconnecting and then he bowed his head, sucking on his bottom lip.

 

“Rescue mission: yay or nay,” Bastian asked, jiggling the car keys in his hand.

 

“Finn’s bringing a couple friends,” Poe mumbled.

 

“O-kay,” Bastian drew out, frowning.  “And that makes you…sad?”

 

“Nah, it’s just gonna be weird.  I told you about Matt and Tyler.”

 

Bastian’s face lit up.  “Shit, are they here?  This is gonna be great!”

 

“ _Great_?”

 

“Uh, yeah?  Think about it!”  Bastian threw an arm around Poe’s shoulders.  “Tyler—the guy Iolo spent all night Googling, the guy whose songs were definitely on repeat all night, that guy is going to be here and Lo doesn’t know?”  Poe rolled his eyes at Bastian’s mischievous grin.  “This is gonna be hilarious!”

 

“You’re evil,” Poe stated, shaking his head.

 

“Oh yeah?  Are ya going to tell Lo this guy is coming?”

 

Poe’s lips crept up into a smirk.  “I mean, birthdays are supposed to have surprises, right?”

 

“Fuck yeah,” Bastian agreed, slapping Poe on the back.  “And if we play this right you can skip the weird ‘meeting-the-folks’ thing.”

 

“You’re a bad influence,” Poe grumbled half-heartedly, moving to grab a Coke from the fridge.

 

“I’m fun and you know it!”

 

*****

 

“You seem weirdly nervous,” Iolo commented cheerfully from where he was perched on the kitchen island.

 

“Hm?”

 

“Ignore him,” Bastian answered for the distracted Poe.  “He’s just been picturing pushing the kid up against the wall and--,”

 

“I hate you.  So much,” Poe groaned, sending Bastian a glare.

 

“He wouldn’t be nervous about that,” Iolo stated, dipping a chip in salsa.  “He’d be excited and doing that thing where he shifts from foot to foot.”

 

“And that lip-biting thing,” Kylo added, popping the bottlecap off a beer.

 

“Mm, I forgot about the lip thing,” Bastian nodded sagely.

 

“All of you can fuck off,” Poe said loudly, banging his head down on the kitchen table.

 

“But it’s my birthday,” Iolo whined but Poe knew his roommate was smirking.

 

“Whatever.”

 

“Hey, y’all!”

 

Poe’s head snapped up and he moved out of his seat and into the kitchen to see the front door.  Finn stood there, dressed in dark blue jeans and a black t-shirt.  He kicked off his shoes and made his way in, leaving the door open.

 

“Long time, no see,” Bastian joked, holding out a hand, which Finn took and drew Bastian in for a bro-hug.

 

“Almost twenty-four hours.  How’d you survive,” Finn asked with a wink.  “Hey, Kylo.  Happy birthday, Iolo.”

 

“Thanks, Finn,” Iolo smiled, holding out his arms from his spot on the island.  Finn walked into the embrace, forehead even with Iolo’s collar bone.

 

“Huh.  I pictured him looking different,” came a new voice from the door.  Poe’s attention shifted to the two guys standing just inside the house.  One of them had to be at least 6’2” not including the neat afro.  He stood behind a shorter man Poe recognized from the YouTube video.

 

“What?  No, this isn’t--,” Finn drew away from Iolo and turned to the others.  “Guys, these are my friends Tyler and Matt.  And this is Bastian,” Bastian waved with a bright smile, “—and Iolo,” Iolo slipped off the counter, staring, “—and I don’t know if you’ve met Kylo…”

 

“We passed in the hospital,” Tyler said, walking into the kitchen with easy strides.  “Nice to meet y’all,” he continued, placing one of the bags down on the island with a tale-tell clink of glass.  Then he strolled over to Iolo, “Happy birthday.”

 

Poe cracked a smile as Iolo’s jaw dropped slightly.  Then he felt a hand in his and Poe glanced over to see Finn standing next to him.  “Hi.”

 

“Hi,” Finn replied softly.  “You okay?”

 

“Sure.  Why wouldn’t I be?”

 

“You look a little—off.”

 

Poe blinked.  “Maybe I’ve missed you.”

 

Finn smiled at that.  “Missed you too.”  He leaned in and placed a quick peck on Poe’s cheek.  “You know Tyler isn’t competition, right?”

 

“Yeah, I figured that out,” Poe answered quietly.

 

“Then why--,”

 

“Mind if I cut in,” Tyler asked, appearing next to them with a lazy smile.

 

Poe looked around, noticing Iolo disappear up the stairs with Bastian on his heels.  Kylo and Matt seemed engaged in a serious conversation, including hand movements.

 

“You’re not gonna threaten him, right,” Finn asked, frowning as his hand tightened around Poe’s.  Poe smiled at Finn’s attempt at protection.

 

“Threaten?  Look at me,” Tyler laughed, throwing his arms out.  “I’m about as threatening as a bunny in a thunderstorm.”  Privately, Poe had to agree; the guy wasn’t giving off any negative vibes.  Poe glanced over and saw Matt staring at him; slowly the guy drew a finger across his neck without blinking.  Kylo—the bastard—laughed but Poe gulped. 

 

“I guess,” Finn allowed.

 

“Great, give us a few,” Tyler said, giving Finn’s earlobe a quick tug.  “Ya might wanna check on the birthday boy; I think we freaked him out with the Fun Dip.”

 

“What?”

 

“I dunno,” Tyler shrugged.  “But he came over faint when he saw them.  He’s not diabetic, is he?”

 

Poe snorted.  “Nah, he’s not.  He just—loves Fun Dip.”

 

Finn and Tyler shot him nearly identical incredulous looks.  “Well, to every dog its bone.  Let’s go outside,” Tyler suggested, hands in his pockets and moseying out onto the deck.

 

“I’ll check on Iolo,” Finn said quickly.  “Don’t worry; Ty’s really nice.”  And then Finn left, heading for the stairs.  Poe looked around, trying to find a reason to stay in the kitchen.

 

“Go on,” Kylo smirked.

 

“We aren’t feral,” Matt said flatly.

 

Poe swallowed and hurried out of the kitchen, checking over his shoulder as Matt watched him go.  He ran straight into Tyler, who chuckled before stepping back and leaning back against the wooden railing of the deck.  Poe crossed his arms, watching the other guy.  Annoyingly, Tyler just kept smiling.

 

“I hear you have some questions for me,” Tyler commented breezily, flipping his hair out of his face.

 

“I think it’s the other way around,” Poe answered awkwardly.

 

Tyler blinked and Poe caught himself staring at the piercing gray eyes.  After a few seconds, Tyler’s gaze shifted to over Poe’s shoulder.  “Sorry.  I’m told my ghost eyes are unnerving.”

 

“What?”

 

“Try looking at my forehead instead,” Tyler recommended with a kind smile.  “It’ll ease ya into it.”

 

“I—your eyes are fine,” Poe stumbled.

 

“Thank ya,” Tyler answered easily, doing a damn good job of hiding it if he thought Poe was an idiot.  “Finn tells me you’re a bit confused about our relationship.  I’m happy to explain, but I dunno know what you know.”

 

“You’re Finn’s dad,” Poe blurted out.

 

Tyler’s eyebrows shot up his forehead.  “Did he say that?”

 

“I mean, not exactly.”

 

Tyler nodded slowly.  “He only calls me that when he’s high on pain killers.  It cracks Matt up.  If it helps, I don’t think like that.  I’m kinda young to be an eighteen-year-old’s dad, ya know.”

 

“That’s the problem,” Poe mumbled.

 

“What?”

 

“But you raised him,” Poe asked, louder.

 

“Finn raised himself.  He was twelve when I met him.”  Tyler boosted himself up to sit on the edge of the railing.

 

“Careful,” Poe said on instinct.

 

Tyler hummed.  “Matt and I looked out for him.  If he missed a meal, we made sure he ate.  If he needed something, we tried to get it for him.”  Tyler paused, considering Poe.  “Not that we were perfect.  There’s only so much two kids can do for another kid.  When Luke showed up—well, I think everyone was relieved.”

 

“Finn said you and Luke co-parent,” Poe pressed.

 

Tyler froze for a split second before he threw his head back and laughed, long and hard.  He slipped forward off the railing, his feet hitting the deck unsteadily.  Poe went forward, grabbing one of the guy’s elbows in concern.  Gasping, Tyler shook his head.  “H-he’s-s m-messin’ with y-ya.”

 

“Really,” Poe asked, disbelieving.

 

“Really really,” Tyler nodded, wiping away a few stray tears squeezing out of his eyes.  “Luke and me don’t _co-parent_ , and anyway I don’t know why—wait.”  Tyler straightened suddenly, staring straight into Poe’s eyes again.  “Hold on.  Is this—this isn’t about—is it?”

 

“Huh?”

 

“Tell me, are you freaked out cause you think I’m Finn’s dad or are you freaked out cause I’m younger than you?”

 

Poe gaped.  “How’d you--,”

 

“Lucky guess,” Tyler answered, tucking some hair behind his ear.  “Age don’t mean a thing.  If you’re insecure about it, pushing that on me isn’t gonna do ya any good.”

 

“It’s just weird,” Poe whined slightly.  “He’s got an authority figure who’s younger than I am!”

 

“ _Authority figure_?”  Tyler shook his head in obvious disbelief.  “You’ve the wrong end of the stick.  I’m not making rules for him, setting curfews and giving him _chores_.  I was a substitute caregiver at _best_.  And pretty shoddy one at that, if you wanna get down to brass tacks.”

 

“Caregiver,” Poe repeated.

 

“Kinda,” Tyler shrugged helplessly.  “I mean, for the first two years I wasn’t doing much beyond helping him with his homework and buying him a grilled cheese if he missed dinner.  And I probably would’ve fucked up his pneumonia if it wasn’t for Maz.”

 

“Pneumonia,” Poe asked, alarmed.

 

“Not important, long story,” Tyler said, running a hand through his hair and glancing out over the ocean.  “What I’m tryin’ to say is that I’m not on some pedestal as Finn’s ‘authority figure.’  And Finn sure as hell doesn’t think of me as his _dad_ , except when he’s out of his mind and saying stuff about the walls melting and green ostriches.”

 

“Seriously?”

 

“Yeah, it’s hilarious.  Ask Matt; he recorded one of Finn’s rants from his last hospital stay,” Tyler said with a tight smile that shifted to a far-away frown.

 

 “So, we’re good,” Poe asked clumsily.

 

“You tell me,” Tyler chuckled.  “We flew out here to meet you and I’m here feeling like I’m the one on the hot seat.”

 

“Sorry.”  Poe cleared his throat.  “Can we start over?”

 

“Please.”  Tyler smiled.  “And we’ll ease ya into the fucked-up family you’ve stumbled into.  Deal?”

 

Poe looked at the hand Tyler was offering him.  “What’s my side of the deal?”

 

“How about,” Tyler said slowly, thinking, “you give us a shot?  We’re not actually terrible.”

 

“Deal,” Poe said with certainty, grasping Tyler’s hand.

 

“Talk everything out,” Finn asked from his spot leaning against the glass door.

 

“Think so,” Tyler answered, moving around Poe to rub Finn’s arm.  “All good on your end?”

 

“Yep,” Finn replied with a big grin.  Poe winked at him; Bastian must have filled him in on the underlying Iolo-Tyler plan for the evening.  “What now?”

 

“Now I’m thinking we need a drink,” Tyler declared, making his way back into the kitchen.  Poe wrapped an arm around Finn’s waist, much to Finn’s evident delight and they followed Tyler.  “How ‘bout mint juleps?”

 

“Don’t have bourbon,” Kylo said.  He and Iolo were leaning against the island and Bastian and Matt were sitting at the table, making small talk about basketball from what Poe picked up.

 

Tyler reached into one of the bags he and Matt had brought in and pulled out a stout bottle with a victorious little cry.  “I beg to differ.  Kylo, I know you have—rest of y’all, ever have a mint julep?”

 

“I’ve had mojitos,” Poe responded, only to get a strangely gleeful giggle from the kid in his arms.

 

“That’s a no,” Tyler said promptly.  “This is the mojito’s hotter, better older brother.”

 

“Like me,” Matt called.

 

“Whatever helps you sleep at night,” Tyler rolled his eyes.  “Bastian, Iolo?”

 

“Don’t we need big hats to drink that,” Bastian asked, his nose wrinkling.  Iolo just shook his head wordlessly.

 

“Surrounded by heathens and Yanks,” Tyler sighed.  “Alright, gather ‘round.  Y’all can’t leave without having a proper mint julep.”  Tyler pulled open a couple of drawers before retrieving a pot and moving to the sink to fill it with water.  “Easy to make, easier to mess up.  And it’ll spoil you for life.”  He placed the pot on the stove and turned on the burner.  “Now, where’s the…” he broke off, looking around and tapping his fists together.

 

“The cups are up there,” Finn pointed to the cabinet above the fridge.  “They’re copper, not silver though.”

 

“Not getting graded on presentation,” Tyler answered easily, climbing up onto the counter.

 

“I can get them,” Finn offered.

 

“Already here,” Tyler shrugged, waving Finn away.  “You can go grab me some mint.”

 

“Where?”

 

“You’ve got some growing out front,” Tyler replied, starting to pull out copper mugs.

 

“Really,” Finn asked surprised.

 

Tyler hummed.  “It’s green and smells like gum.  You’re smart, you’ll figure it out.”

 

“How much,” Finn asked with a laugh.  Tyler held up a fist without turning around and Finn nodded and headed for the front door.

 

“Matt, give me a hand, will ya,” Tyler asked, looking at the seven mugs he had on top of the fridge.

 

Matt heaved himself out of his seat and came over, taking the mugs Tyler passed into his hands.  “You need crushed ice.”

 

“Don’t suppose there’s a Lewis bag and mallet laying around,” Tyler asked Kylo, jumping down from the counter.

 

“Doubt it.  Luke’s not a big drinker,” Kylo replied.

 

“The fridge does crushed ice,” Iolo squeaked out.  Tyler turned to examine the ice dispenser on the freezer door.

 

“That’ll work.  Thanks,” he sent a smile in Iolo’s direction and Poe could see Iolo’s knee shake.  He shot a quick smirk over to Bastian, who grinned and came to stand next to Poe by the island.  Tyler grabbed a salad bowl from somewhere and started to fill it with crushed ice.

 

“Got the mint,” Finn announced, coming back inside.

 

“Great, sweetie.  Give it a rinse for me,” Tyler called over the sound of the ice maker.  At the term of endearment, Iolo and Bastian shot Poe looks of curiosity but Poe just shrugged and went back to watching what amounted to a choreographed dance of sorts.

 

Matt lined up the mugs and went to the pantry, pulling out a bag of sugar.  Finn ran the mint under the sink and then laid it on a towel, covering it with another towel to press the leaves dry.  Tyler returned to the island with his bowl of crushed ice and turned to check on the water.

 

“It says here there’s nutmeg in it,” Iolo said, scrolling through his phone.  There was a collective gasp and everyone turned to the four southerners, who were staring at Iolo like he suggested putting a baby in the oven.

 

“Do you want the south to rise again,” Tyler asked, eyes wide.

 

Iolo blinked.  “No?”

 

“Then keep your nutmeg on the other side of the Mason-Dixon,” Kylo stated with a shake of his head.

 

“Next you’re gonna tell me it’s iced tea, not sweet tea,” Tyler grumbled, starting to help Finn pull the mint leaves off the stems.

 

“It _is_ iced tea,” Bastian said.

 

Tyler turned slowly to stare at Bastian, who jerked back in surprise.  Tyler reached out, his eyes not leaving Bastian, and grabbed Matt’s shirt collar and pulling him down.  “I’ll grab the sugar, you grab the bourbon.  If we walk real slow they won’t even know we left.”

 

“When Tara says you’re dramatic,” Matt muttered, “she’s talking about this shit.”

 

“Water’s ready,” Finn chimed, evidently unperturbed by the antics.

 

“Alright, here we go!”  Tyler clapped his hands together.  He switched off the burner and picked up the pot.  Going down the island he carefully poured a small amount of hot water into each mug and then, passing the pot off to Matt, repeated the actions with the sugar.  Next, he turned away and Finn went down the line, dropping some mint leaves into each.  Tyler returned with a spoon and stirred and pressed into each copper mug.  “This gets the oil out of the leaves,” Tyler explained distractedly as he finished with the last mug.  Matt twisted open the bottle of bourbon and passed it over.  Tyler placed his thumb over the mouth of the bottle and went down the line again, giving a long pull to each mug, expect the last one.  Finn followed behind him, filling the mugs with crushed ice.  As Finn finished up, Tyler fished a flat butter knife out of a drawer and gave each mug a stir around the edges.

 

“Just like old times,” Finn commented.

 

“Except you’re not hiding under the bar while I do this,” Tyler said, picking up the copper mug without bourbon.  “Now, you have a decision to make, sweetheart.”

 

“Lotta bourbon or a little,” Matt asked, picking up the bottle.  Tyler and Finn shot him twin glares.

 

“What kinda example is that,” Tyler censored.

 

“We had him working at a bar at thirteen.  A bar, by the way, we were too young to bartend at to begin with,” Matt replied flatly.

 

Tyler tilted his head to the side.  “But I wasn’t drinking on the job.  Or off it.”

 

“Only cause we were too broke to afford it.”

 

“I’ll have ginger ale,” Finn interjected, sending a sheepish smile in Poe’s direction as he went to the fridge.

 

“You ever think Maz shoulda got arrested for the shit she let us pull,” Tyler asked Matt blandly.

 

“She’s got tricks up her sleeves,” Matt shrugged.  Finn drifted back over with a bottle of ginger ale.  Tyler passed the mug over and took the bottle from Finn and twisted it open wordlessly.  “Ya know, I bet Finn can open his own soda.”

 

“What?”  Tyler looked down at the objects in his hands.  “Didn’t even know I was doing that.  Sorry, sweetheart.”

 

Finn grimaced, snatching the bottle from Tyler.  “Whatever.”

 

Tyler scowled for a second before sending a bright smile at his audience.  “And now we drink!”  He lightly slid the mugs towards Poe, Bastian, Iolo, and Kylo.  He passed one to Matt and took one himself.  “Toast?”

 

Finn turned to Matt.  “Give us a toast.”

 

“Uh, how old are you now,” Matt asked Iolo.

 

“Twenty-three,” he answered slowly.

 

“To twenty-three: may we make it, may we live it, may we remember it,” Matt declared, holding up his drink.

 

“Cheers,” Tyler and Finn laughed, raising theirs.  Poe raised his mug mindlessly, looking over at his friends, who matched his motions with equally bewildered looks.

 

“This is fucking amazing,” Iolo breathed out shocked after his first sip.

 

“Tyler makes the best mint juleps,” Finn supplied with a sly smile.  “It’s his thing.”

 

Tyler chuckled good-naturedly, glancing down at his mug and missing the awed look Iolo sent his way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Buckle up for the final arch of this story!   
> Thank you so much for the amazing comments and kudos from the last chapter/interlude! Y'all are stupendous :D
> 
> Next up: Interlude with Iolo and Tyler ;)


	12. Interlude with Iolo and Tyler

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a little self-indulgent on my part, but I really wanted Iolo to have a nice birthday.
> 
> Chapter warning: brief mention of drug use
> 
> Hope you enjoy!

“Happy birthday,” the guy who looked like he walked right out of a Renaissance mural said, standing in front of Iolo with an easy smile.

 

“Uh,” Iolo managed before choking on his own tongue.

 

“No one warned ya, huh?  Sorry to butt in,” the gray-eyed man said with a remorseful grimace.  “But we did bring ya something.  I’m Tyler, by the way.”

 

“Iolo.  I mean, my name is Iolo,” he stammered.

 

Tyler nodded, smiling again.  “Figured that one out myself.”  Iolo fought to keep from smacking himself in the face; obviously the guy knew that, he had said ‘happy birthday.’

 

“Right.  Sorry,” Iolo said, glancing down at his bare feet.  Then a plastic grocery bag appeared in his line of sight.

 

“Don’t worry, I’m just playing.  Anyway, this is for ya.”

 

Iolo took it, careful not to touch the Tyler’s skin as he grabbed the handles and opened it.  “Oh my God,” he breathed, staring down at the bright, neon-colored packets of candy.  “I _love_ Fun Dip.”

 

“Great!”  Iolo’s head snapped up, almost surprised to see Tyler still standing there.  “Finn’s beau said it was your favorite.  Speaking of the beau,” Tyler continued, looking over Iolo’s shoulder, “he’s watching me like I’m five seconds from nuclear.  Mind if I--,”

 

“Yeah, sure,” Iolo said quickly.  “I’m just—up,” he finished uselessly as he dodged around Tyler and made for the stairs.

 

Iolo heard footsteps following him up the stairs, but he didn’t look back until he was at the door of his room.  He took one look at Bastian’s huge smirk and groaned, pushing the door open and falling face-first onto his bed.

 

“That was _amazing_ ,” Bastian cackled.  “I can’t even give Poe shit anymore because that was fucking _hilarious_ , man!”

 

“Fuck off,” Iolo grumbled into the blankets.  Then he turned his head to glare at Bastian.  “You knew.”

 

“Hell yeah I did,” Bastian replied happily, beaming.  “Happy birthday!”

 

“Hey, are y’all okay,” Finn asked, entering the room.  “Tyler said you didn’t feel good?”

 

Bastian snorted loudly and Iolo shook his head, turning back to the blankets.  “Iolo here is suffering from a classic case of Speechless Before Beauty.”

 

Finn hummed questioningly while Iolo moaned, “Shut _up_.”

 

“You see, Iolo played detective to find out about these friends of yours,” Bastian explained gleefully.  “And he took one look at a photo of Tyler and has fallen madly in love--,”

 

“I’m not in _love_!  He’s just hot,” Iolo countered belligerently, sitting up.

 

“Fine, he’s fallen madly in lust with this guy,” Bastian continued with a shrug.  “And what we had the privilege of witnessing was a rare sighting of a flustered Lo.”

 

Finn blinked a few times, apparently processing that information, while Iolo reached into the bag he had dropped on the floor and pulled out a cherry Fun Dip.  His favorite.  Why did the world hate him, he thought moodily as he ripped the top off and pulled out the white sugar stick.

 

“Tyler’s single, tested negative last week for STDs, and is the kindest person I know,” Finn declared abruptly, causing Iolo to cough around the candy in his mouth.

 

Bastian laughed loudly, slapping Finn squarely in the back.  “Fuck yeah!  That’s the spirit!”

 

Finn flinched away from Bastian with a scowl, rolling his shoulders back a couple of times.  “I’m not pimping Tyler out, but if ya wanna go for it—he’s a good guy.”

 

Iolo glared down at the packet of sugar in his hand, dunking the now-wet sugar stick into the red cherry-flavored sugar dust.  “I don’t do stuff like that.”

 

“Man, you haven’t so much as looked at anyone since that Charlotte girl dumped you in _December_ ,” Bastian groaned.  “And you haven’t been interested in a guy in twice that long!  What’s so bad about seeing if you still have game?”

 

“Never had game,” Iolo answered moodily, licking the cherry dust off the stick.

 

“You sure?  Keep that up and I’ll have to rub one out myself and I don’t even like you like that,” Bastian said flatly, with a pointed look at the sugar stick.

 

Iolo frowned confused, looking at the candy.  “Seriously?”

 

“Okay, this is getting weird,” Finn interjected, eyes wide.

 

“ _Getting_?  We passed ‘weird’ and are heading towards ‘wrong’ at about ninety miles an hour,” Iolo grumbled, sticking the stick back into the cherry sugar.

 

“How about we go back down,” Bastian suggested.  “You can have a drink, chill out, and try again to act like a normal person.”

 

“It’s my party and I can hide if I want to,” Iolo answered with a pout.

 

Finn rolled his eyes.  “Tyler is staying until I leave, and I’m not leaving.  You can either spend your whole night up here or come hang out.”

 

“Besides, the guy’s probably more concerned about Poe defiling this one,” Bastian said with a head nod towards Finn.

 

“Nah, that’s Matt’s thing,” Finn shook his head.  “Tyler is the laidback, happy one.  Matt will cut someone.”

 

“Don’t tell Poe,” Bastian said.  “He definitely thinks Tyler is your ‘if you lay a hand on my son, I’ll get out my shotgun’ person.”

 

Finn wrinkled his nose.  “Yeah, that’s not Ty.”

 

“Fine.  Let’s go,” Iolo announced, standing up.  “Get this over with.”

 

“That doesn’t sound negative at all,” Bastian rolled his eyes, heading out of the room.  Iolo shrugged and moved to follow.  Finn’s arm shot out, stopping him and then grabbing the Fun Dip packet out of Iolo’s grasp.

 

“Save this for later in the night.  It’s dangerous,” Finn informed him, putting the candy on the dresser before steering a confused Iolo out of the room with a hand around the older man’s bicep.

 

***

 

Iolo escaped to the deck at his first opportunity.  He had to thank God that his friends were strangely clueless when it came to grilling or else he might have been stuck inside, getting the encouraging side-eye from everyone he thought were his friends.  He had snatched the hot dog packets and the hamburger patties with loud assurances that he had this, no worries.  And, after draining the last of what had to be the best alcoholic drink he’s ever had, Iolo had set to work, checking the propane before turning on the grill and arranging his accoutrements.  He was finishing placing the last hot dog on half of the grill and was turning to the patties when a voice behind him asked,

 

“Mind if I join ya?  Getting kinda stuffy in there.”

 

Iolo looked over his shoulder, proud he hadn’t jumped out of his skin this time when he saw Tyler standing by the sliding glass doors, copper mug hanging loosely from his right hand with a smile.

 

“Yeah, no problem,” Iolo replied.  Maybe bourbon was his drink—if nothing else he wasn’t stammering anymore.  Tyler wandered over, leaning his hip against the deck railing beside the grill.

 

“Thanks.  Matt’s talkin’ zombies and I feel like I’m chaperoning Finn,” Tyler explained with an eye roll.

 

“Zombies,” Iolo asked, placing four hamburger patties down on the grill.

 

“Mmhmm,” Tyler hummed, glancing down at his mug.  “He’s in to that stuff.”

 

“Not your thing?”  Iolo smiled to himself, taking a step back from the grill and crossing his arms.  Talking wasn’t so hard.

 

“Nah, got enough to worry about without adding undead brain-eating corpses or aliens or monsters to the mix.”  Tyler shrugged.  “I’m also a wuss, so that might have somethin’ to do with it.”

 

That surprised a laugh out of Iolo.  “Really?  Not a gore guy?”

 

Tyler raised an eyebrow.  “Do I look like a gore guy?”

 

“Not really,” Iolo allowed.  “But you never know what people are into.”

 

Tyler chuckled.  “Well, I ain’t into that, I’ll tell ya that right now.  What about you, birthday boy?”

 

Iolo swallowed roughly.  “I—don’t watch a lot of movies.”  

 

“Alright,” Tyler said agreeably, taking a sip of his drink.  “How’s the grilling going?”

 

“Fine,” Iolo said, picking up the tongs and starting to turn the hot dogs over.  “My family’s crazy about grilling.  There’s been two feet of snow on the ground and Dad’s out there, starting the charcoal.”

 

Tyler smiled.  “So you’re sayin’ y’all have a screw loose.”

 

“Basically,” Iolo shrugged.  “What about yours?”

 

“Well, my mother died of a heroin overdose a week after child services scooped me up.”

 

“Oh my God,” Iolo choked out, eyes wide as he met Tyler’s gaze.  “I’m so sorry.  I didn’t--,”

 

“Chill,” Tyler interrupted with a half-smile.  “If I didn’t wanna mention it, I wouldn’t have said it.  I’m good.  Not ashamed of it.”

 

“I had no idea,” Iolo said softly.

 

“Why would ya?  It’s fine,” Tyler said, smile growing and softening slightly.  “And anyway, got Matt now.  Even if his taste in movie genres sucks.”

 

Iolo huffed out a slight laugh.  “And Finn?”

 

Tyler’s face lit up.  “Yup.  Love that little nugget.”

 

Iolo wrinkled his nose.  “Nuggets are gross.”

 

Tyler tossed his head back and laughed loudly.  “Don’t tell me—you’re one of those health nuts.”

 

“I mean, I eat a salad sometimes,” Iolo answered, taking the spatula and flipping the patties over.

 

“God, I dunno how ya eat that stuff,” Tyler grimaced, hoisting himself up to sit on the railing.  “We moved to LA from Chicago and that was a culture shock.  LA has three food groups,” he declared, holding up three fingers, “tacos, juice, and anything they can throw those alien eggs on.”

 

“ _Alien eggs_?”

 

“Yeah, ya know.  They say it’s like rice but it ain’t.  Give me Zatarain’s anytime over that weird key-wa stuff.”

 

“You mean quinoa,” Iolo gasped in surprise.

 

“That’s the sonuva biscuit,” Tyler nodded seriously.

 

“Why do you call it _alien eggs_?”

 

“Ever looked at the darn things?  Little round things with tails!”

 

Iolo’s jaw dropped.  “You just ruined quinoa for me,” he breathed.  Tyler grinned and shrugged unapologetically.  “Next you’re gonna say coconut water is like jizz.”

 

Tyler coughed in shock.  “I am _not_ gonna say that!  Where did you find jizz that tastes like coconuts?  I think you have a duty to the human race to share this information.”

 

“No, I meant—cause of how it looked--,” Iolo tried to explain frantically, but Tyler was laughing again and Iolo couldn’t help but join in.

 

“Is something burning,” Kylo called from inside.

 

“Shit, the dogs,” Iolo hissed, opening the tongs against his hip and taking the blackened hot dogs off the grill quickly.  He piled them on a clean plate and scowled.  “Damn it.”

 

“Relax,” Tyler shook his head, still laughing a bit.  He pointed at the tongs and Iolo handed them over.  “You stress about the weirdest stuff, I’m tellin’ ya.”

 

“I stressed about bringing up bad memories for you and ruining dinner,” Iolo shot back, taking the hamburgers off too.  “Seems like legit stuff to stress about.”

 

“Well, you didn’t bring up any bad memories,” Tyler said easily, clicking the tong ends together.  “And you didn’t ruin dinner either,” he continued, picking up a hot dog with the tongs and bringing to his lips, taking a bite.  “It’s not even that burnt, man.”  Iolo frowned but didn’t say anything, distracted by the other guy’s jaw working.  “Tell ya what.  I’ll make the rest.  You tell me what to do, and when they’re screwed up you can blame me.”

 

“Um,” Iolo blinked as Tyler hopped down and moved to stand in front of the grill, inspecting the hot wracks and the remaining patties.

 

“So I’m just gonna start, and you pitch in when you’re done sulking,” Tyler announced, putting the tongs to the side and grabbing a hamburger and flopping it onto the grill.

 

“Not like that,” Iolo snapped.  “Be gentle with the meat.”

 

“Yeah?  Show me,” Tyler shot back with a wink.    

 

***

 

Dinner went off without a hitch; apparently hot dogs burnt almost past recognition were how Tyler and Matt preferred them.  Matt cracked a joke about how they were almost as dark as he was and Finn had broken down in a fit of giggles at that.  Iolo found he couldn’t be down on himself after Tyler took a knife and cut one of the worst-burnt hot dogs into an octopus shape and tossed it so it landed perfectly on the top of Poe’s hair.  Poe had lobbed it back with a playful glare and Finn contributed by flicking a slice of pickle at Tyler’s nose.  A full-blown food fight was narrowly avoided by Matt locking Tyler’s arms behind his back and Poe grabbing Finn around the waist and pulling him away from the table.

 

“Never a dull moment with you, huh,” Iolo asked casually, cradling his beer bottle between his hands. 

 

“What doya mean?  We’ve been good tonight,” Tyler said, drying his hands and turning away from the sink, stack of washed dishes on a towel on the counter.

 

“Sure,” Iolo rolled his eyes, kicking his feet up on one of the chairs at the kitchen table and watching Tyler take a beer from the fridge and open it with a bottle opener on his keys.

 

“I promised I wouldn’t embarrass him,” Tyler shrugged, dropping down into the seat across from Iolo, stretching his legs out.

 

“That’s cute,” Iolo cooed.  Tyler rolled his eyes and shook his head.  Iolo glanced over his shoulder at where Poe and Finn were sharing a lounge chair and a blanket on the deck.  “Poe’s crazy about him.”

 

Tyler hummed.  “He better be ‘cause I’ve never seen Finn like this.”

 

“Oh, I didn’t know—I kinda thought--,”

 

“He had a summer fling with a girl last year,” Tyler said nonchalantly.  “And he had a thing with one of the safeties on his team, but that ended pretty quick.”

 

“Huh.”  Iolo looked back to the deck curiously.  “I guess I shouldn’t be surprised.  He just seemed…”

 

“Angelically pure,” Tyler supplied with a smirk.  “He gets that a lot.  Don’t worry about it.”

 

“Poe was freaking out that Bastian was gonna corrupt Finn,” Iolo said softly, leaning towards Tyler slightly.

 

“Given what I’ve seen of Bastian, that might be valid,” Tyler joked, sending a look to where Kylo, Bastian, and Matt had set up in the living room with the bottle of bourbon and a deck of cards.  “Wanna join them,” he asked, jerking his head towards the group.  “Feelin’ like I’m creeping on Finn again.”

 

Iolo opened his mouth to agree when Matt hollered, “Yo, Ty!  Listen to this guy.”

 

Tyler sat up straighter as Matt came over, dragging Bastian behind him by the arm.  “What’s up,” Tyler asked, looking between the two.

 

“Tell him,” Matt said, looking at Bastian and pointing at Tyler.  Kylo wandered over, glass of bourbon in his hand.

 

“Uh, I don’t think bourbon is my liquor,” Bastian mumbled, looking at his feet.

 

Tyler blinked.  “I’ll alert the state of Kentucky?”

 

“He said Finn told him that he’s not going to college without football,” Matt said, crossing his arms.  “That he can’t afford it without that scholarship.”

 

“Aw Christ,” Tyler muttered, leaning forward and pushing his beer away.

 

“You said Luke talked to him,” Matt accused.

 

“He told me he did,” Tyler shot back, rubbing a hand across his eyes.  “Did Finn really say that?”

 

“Yeah, yesterday,” Bastian nodded.

 

“Jesus, Mary, and Joseph and all his carpenter friends,” Tyler groaned.  “Matt, find that thing, will ya?”  Matt pulled out his cell and started typing.  “Finn,” Tyler raised his voice, looking around Iolo to the deck, “come here for a minute.”

 

Poe and Finn walked in a moment later, Finn wrapped in the blanket with Poe’s arm loosely draped around his waist.  “What’s going on,” Finn asked.

 

“What’s this I hear about needing a football scholarship,” Tyler asked, eyes hard on Finn’s face.

 

“Tattle-tale,” Finn hissed at Bastian, whose shoulders slumped.

 

“You’ll be thankin’ him in a second,” Tyler said. 

 

“Finn,” Poe breathed, “is that why--,”

 

“I’ve got this,” Tyler interrupted loudly, standing.  Poe shot Tyler a look that he ignored.  “Luke should’ve told ya, but I guess it musta got lost in the shuffle.  Finn, you have a college account.”  Matt held out his cell and Tyler took it and handed it over to Finn without glancing at it.  “This is last month’s statement, but you can scroll through.  Between this and student loans and that other thing—what’s it called—FIFA--,”

 

“FAFSA,” Matt supplied.

 

“Right,” Tyler nodded, putting his hands on his hips.  “Well, between all that you’re going to college, even if you never catch another football in your life, got it?”

 

Finn stared at the screen, lips parted, scrolling down with his thumb.  “I don’t believe it,” he breathed.

 

“Well, it’s real and it’s yours,” Tyler said firmly.

 

“Wait.”  Finn frowned and looked up.  “This says the account was opened five years ago.”  Tyler cocked an eyebrow.  Finn looked from Tyler to Matt.  “Luke wasn’t around five years ago.”

 

“I know we ain’t the smartest people in the room,” Tyler snapped, “but even we figured out how to open a savings account.”  And then Tyler stumbled back as Finn slammed into him, arms around Tyler’s neck and face buried in his shoulder.  Tyler huffed, bringing his arms around Finn with a frown.  “You gotta tell us what worries ya, sweetheart.  I’m not a mind reader, and you’re gonna give yourself an ulcer if ya keep this up.”

 

“Thank you,” Finn whispered.

 

“Thank Luke, most of it’s his money,” Tyler answered, tightening his grip briefly around Finn.  “But yeah.  No problem.”

 

“I think it was a problem,” Finn replied wetly.

 

“Nah, I kinda enjoyed working at that burlesque club,” Tyler smiled.  Finn choked out a laugh while Iolo felt like he forgot how to breathe.

 

“You weren’t even a dancer,” Matt rolled his eyes.  “Stop tryin’ to sound heroic.”

 

“Aw, you wanna hug too,” Finn sniffed with a smile, looking over at Matt.

 

“Not really.”  Matt held out a fist and Finn quickly bumped it with his own.  “We done bein’ serious ‘cause I can only keep this up for so long.”

 

“God, please,” Tyler groaned playfully.  Finn pulled back and shoved Tyler gently.  “Go on with ya,” he smiled, turning Finn back to Poe with an easy smile before grabbing his beer.  He took a long pull while Matt waved everyone into the living room, saying something about everyone being boring.

 

“That was really nice of you,” Iolo said quietly, moving to stand next to Tyler.

 

Tyler glanced over at him as he swallowed.  “It’s whatever,” he answered, looking uncomfortable. 

 

“Okay,” Iolo nodded slowly.  “At least you got a burlesque story out of it.”

 

Tyler barked out a laugh.  “It wasn’t what you’re thinking.  I sat at a piano and sang while trained professionals did the actual work.”

 

“What kind of songs?”

 

Tyler shot Iolo a smirk.  “Wouldn’t you like to know.”    

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You didn't think Finn was left hanging, did ya? ;)  
> Getting near the end now. Next up: back to Finn and Poe and is there ever going to be a kiss?
> 
> Thank you to all you amazing readers! I'm so beguiled by how many of you read this story, but I'm totally thankful. :)


	13. Friday, April 8th-Part Two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry for the wait! There has been some writing evolution on my end, which I will explain further at the end of the chapter.
> 
> Hope you enjoy!

“So Iolo,” Bastian said loudly, leaning against the kitchen island and glaring slightly at Poe, “darling Iolo, lovely Iolo, the cherub we drag around to balance out our blackened souls.”  Poe appreciated that there was a brief time between tipsy-Bastian and drunk-Bastian when he was eloquent as fuck.  “That Iolo is upstairs getting laid by Finn’s fairy godmother,” Poe snorted and Bastian continued on, “and you can’t even get a kiss from the kid who literally stares at you with heart eyes.”

 

“You shouldn’t underestimate Iolo,” Poe said casually, glancing down at the glass of water in his hand.  “He’s not as desperate as we are but he can get what he wants.”

 

“Iolo freaks out when my socks don’t match.  Not his socks, my socks,” Bastian stated flatly.

 

“I mean, he’s a bit of a weirdo, but that doesn’t mean he can’t score when he wants to,” Poe shrugged, wondering idly what was taking Matt so long.  He had gone to retrieve Tyler and Iolo nearly five minutes ago.  “He’s just got standards.”

 

“Oh yeah, standards.  I’ve heard of those,” Bastian rolled his eyes.  “And that’s not the point.  The point is within hours Iolo got that guy in the sack and you’re over here dodging Finn’s attempts like you’re playing fucking paintball.”

 

“Finn’s not a floosy,” Poe mumbled, mostly to himself but Bastian heard and choked on his mouthful of beer, some of it escaping from between his squeezed-tight lips.

 

“I’m sorry, I didn’t realize we were in the fucking 1920s!  Let me get my fedora and a flask of hooch and you and me can knock over a bank!”

 

“He said it,” Poe hissed, pointing over to where Kylo, Rey, and Finn were lounging in the living room.  “He said I had to work for a kiss, and I haven’t done jack-shit.”

 

“And since then he’s been sitting in your lap, the two of you whispering sweet nothings to each other like we’re in a PBS period drama,” Bastian shot back, throwing his hands over his head.  “I’ve seen a lit match and a wick with less chemistry, man!”

 

“Can we get you some kind of IV drip to keep you at this level all the time,” Poe asked over Bastian’s rant.  “You could be a public speaker if you always talked like this.”

 

“I’m a teacher, Poe; all I do is speak publicly,” Bastian said flatly.

 

“You haven’t graduated, shut up.”

 

“Let me remind you,” Bastian declared, banging his hand against the marble countertop, “that a guy eating Fun Dip and a guy singing a Disney song managed to seduce each other into bed in the amount of time it would take me to do a load of laundry.  And they didn’t have half the sexual tension you and the kid are dragging around like Sisyphus--,”

 

“What goes on in your head,” Poe asked in wonder, shaking his head.

 

“Oh it’s a circus,” Bastian answered, straightening up suddenly.  “Complete with elephants, clowns, dog on a unicycle.”

 

“I’d paid to see that,” came Tyler’s drawl from the stairs.  Poe turned to look, watching Matt continue down the stairs while Iolo and Tyler paused, Iolo’s arm loosely wrapped around Tyler’s waist.  Bastian clapped his hands loudly before bursting into song loudly.

 

“Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord!”

 

“And he’s drunk,” Poe drew out, moving the half-full beer bottle out of Bastian’s reach as Matt walked over to lean next to Poe.

 

Tyler laughed, adding, “He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored,” as he went over to the living room, bending down to pat Finn’s shoulder.

 

“Are you singing the Battle Hymn of the Republic,” Iolo asked incredulously, going to the fridge.

 

“It’s the first song that came to mind,” Bastian shrugged.  Iolo shot Poe a concerned look before Bastian continued, “All hail the conquering hero, right?  What the fuck, man?  Where the hell did _that_ come from?”

 

“There was no conquering happening,” Iolo snapped irritated, closing the fridge with a water bottle in his hand.

 

“My bad, you and he were having a nice chat over tea and crumpets,” Bastian said drily.  Iolo’s cheeks flushed rose and Poe smirked.  “Knew it,” Bastian hissed victoriously.

 

“Shut up,” Iolo shook his head.  “It wasn’t like that.”

 

“We’re happy for you,” Poe supplied, more kindly.  “Really, dude.”

 

“And we expect details later,” Bastian added.  “Like, step-by-step details.  Have you ever hooked up before?”

 

“No, and I didn’t tonight,” Iolo mumbled, jumping up to sit on the island and setting the bottle unopened beside his hip.

 

Bastian blinked.  “So you actually didn’t do anything up there?”

 

Poe watched Iolo pick at his jeans.  “Or,” Poe said, “it was more than a hook up.”

 

“They have it bad,” Matt supplied casually.  “Five bucks says there was cuddling.”

 

Iolo groaned, hiding his head in his hands while Bastian audibly gasped.  “No fucking way.  Is this happening?  Are we doing this,” Bastian asked quietly, looking between Poe and Iolo.

 

“We’re gonna exchange numbers,” Iolo shrugged.

 

“And I’ll bet he told you that we’re gonna be in Boston later this summer,” Matt said, cracking a smile.

 

“If some deal goes through,” Iolo nodded.

 

“Yeah, we got the contract today but we’ve been with Finn.  Haven’t really looked over it.  Seems like a lot of performance dates,” Matt mumbled, pulling his cell out of his pocket.

 

“Matt, should you and I just fuck and get it over with,” Bastian asked, grinning.  “Keep it in the family.”

 

“Sorry, you’re cute but I’m the designated straight guy in this cluster fuck,” Matt smiled.

 

“What’s up,” Tyler asked, strolling into the kitchen.  He moseyed over to Iolo and held out his phone.  “Here ya go.”

 

“Thanks,” Iolo said, taking it and ignoring Bastian’s cooing.  “And that’s for you,” Iolo added, pushing the water towards Tyler.

 

“Oh.”  Tyler blinked down at it.  “Thanks.”

 

“You said you needed some water,” Iolo stated, raising an eyebrow.

 

“I did,” Tyler nodded.  “Usually when I say stuff it doesn’t—uh.”  Tyler glanced over at Matt, who held his hands up.

 

“I don’t date ‘nice,’” Matt shrugged.

 

Tyler hummed, picking up the bottle and twisting the cap off.  “Thanks, chief,” he said, kissing Iolo quickly on the cheek before taking a swallow of water.

 

“So I hear you’re gonna be in Boston,” Poe asked pointedly, sending a look to Bastian, praying the other guy wouldn’t say anything stupid.

 

“Depends on whether we take the tour deal,” Matt answered for both of them.

 

“I don’t know how to unlock your phone,” Iolo mumbled.

 

“0-3-2-1,” Tyler replied.

 

“That’s not very secure,” Iolo censored, typing in the numbers.

 

“He’s got a point,” Matt said seriously.  “Hey Finn,” he called over his shoulder, “your birthday sucks as a security code.”

 

“ _What_?”  Finn pushed himself to his feet and headed their way, Rey and Kylo following.  “What are you talking about?”

 

“Nuthin’,” Tyler grumbled, punching Matt in the arm.  “Don’t worry about it.”

 

“Are you hiding from me,” Finn asked Poe, sliding in next to him in the spot Matt left as he moved to pass Tyler his own cell.

 

“No, of course not,” Poe smiled.  “Just thought you guys were having a family moment.”

 

“Your hair looks different,” Rey stated at Tyler, who had leaned forward to look over look down at Matt’s screen.

 

“Brushed it,” Tyler muttered, distractedly.

 

“Why,” Matt asked.  Tyler glanced up through his lashes, tilting his head towards Iolo, who reached out and ran a hand idly through his brown hair.  “Ah.  Nice.”

 

“Ty, can I have a sip,” Finn asked, pointing at the water bottle.

 

“Nah, get your own.”

 

“Just want a little,” Finn frowned, bottom lip jutting out slightly.  Poe held himself in check because he wanted nothing more than to kiss that pout right off Finn’s face.

 

“Sweetheart, think about it,” Tyler said slowly, sending Finn an amused look.  Finn paused and then wrinkled his nose.

 

“Gross, I didn’t need to know that,” Finn scowled, heading to the sink.

 

“Well I was tryin' not to tell ya,” Tyler countered, rolling his eyes.

 

“Isn’t parenting fun,” Matt smirked.  Tyler turned his head slowly to stare at his friend.

 

“I will get you back.  You won’t know how but I will.”  Tyler glanced back down at Matt’s phone on the counter.  “Probably in Cincinnati.  Jesus Christ, why do they have three dates listed there?”

 

“Are you talking about the tour,” Finn asked, filling a glass with water.  “Is it happening?”

 

“Yeah, looks like it,” Tyler nodded.  Iolo poked Tyler’s arm with Tyler’s cell phone.  “Did you text yourself,” he asked Iolo.

 

“No?”

 

“Silly, you need my number too,” Tyler mentioned, pushing his phone back to Iolo and then sliding Matt’s back to him.  “Looks good.  I’m down.”

 

“You sure?  We’d be doing five shows a week,” Matt said.  “And you got the voice.”

 

“Didn’t know you cared,” Tyler teased, fluttering his eyelashes at Matt.  “I’ll be fine.  Besides they won’t sell enough tickets for all these to go, right?”

 

Poe nearly jumped out of his skin as a hand slid into his back pocket.  His head whipped around, jaw dropping at Finn’s unconcerned expression.  “This okay?”

 

“Uh,” Poe gulped, too aware of everyone else in the kitchen even though they probably hadn’t noticed.  “Weren’t we gonna do smores,” Poe asked loudly.  Finn pulled away, grumbling slightly under his breath as everyone turned to look at Poe.

 

“Kinda a hassle to set up the fire pit,” Kylo mentioned.

 

“And we gotta head out soon,” Matt said, squinting at the digital clock on the stove.  “We’re on the redeye to LAX.”

 

“Really,” Iolo asked, disappointment evident.  Tyler smiled softly at him.

 

“Got an interview tomorrow morning.  We’ll talk later, okay?”

 

“We’re leaving tomorrow too, remember,” Bastian interjected.

 

“Right,” Iolo mumbled, ducking his head.  “Fuck.”

 

“We could play another round of truth of dare,” Rey suggested cheerily.

 

“I dunno,” Bastian frowned.  “Last time all we wanted was for those two to kiss,” he gestured at Poe and Finn, “and we ended up setting up this new couple,” he pointed at Iolo and Tyler.  “I think we suck at that game.”

 

“Fuck off,” Poe said exhausted.

 

“Nah, he’s got a point,” Matt muttered, smirking as Finn sputtered in indignation.  “Like you would’ve objected.”

 

“No,” Finn conceded, causing Poe to cough in shock, “but he doesn’t want to.”

 

“He thinks you don’t want to,” Bastian countered while Poe tried to remember how thinking works.

 

“Of course I want to,” Finn groaned, tossing his head back.  “I’ve been trying all night!”

 

“ _And you don’t know why but you’re dying to try_ ,” Tyler sung under his breath.  “ _Go on and kiss the guy_.”

 

Finn giggled at that while Matt slapped Tyler’s shoulder.  “ _The Little Mermaid_ is not the answer to everything, idiot.”

 

“You weren’t saying that when I helped you surprise Crystal with that song,” Tyler shot back, standing up and putting his hands on his hip.

 

“Oh what the hell,” Finn grumbled behind Poe and then Poe was turned around by hands on his shoulders.  “Do you want to kiss me?”

 

“Fuck,” Poe swallowed.  “Since January.”

 

Finn beamed and Poe wanted a moment to soak it in, knowing he had a dopey grin of his own on his face.  But—because Poe can’t have a fucking second to himself—cheers and applause broke out in the kitchen, complete with Rey fist pumping and bouncing up and down in excitement.

 

“Master romancer, right here,” Tyler laughed, rocking his hips and snapping his fingers, grinning.

 

“You had nothin’ to do with that,” Matt snapped.

 

“Don’t be jealous; maybe you can help with the future proposal,” Tyler smirked, sticking his tongue out and ducking away from Matt’s half-hearted swipe at him.  Tyler laughed again and wrapped an arm around Iolo’s hips and slid Iolo off the counter and against his side.

 

“Fucking shit,” Iolo cried out, clutching at Tyler’s shoulders.  “Put me down, I’m too heavy for this!”

 

“Don’t get ahead of yourself,” Tyler said, grabbing one of Iolo’s legs and bending it around his hips.  “Not as weak as I look.  Come on, y’all.  Give em some privacy.  Finn,” he said over his shoulder, while everyone filed out, shooting Poe and Finn smiles and thumbs’ ups, “you’ve gotta be home by two or Luke’ll have my head.”

 

“Gotcha,” Finn nodded seriously before grabbing Poe’s hand and dragging him towards the deck, pausing to pull the glass door open.

 

“Alright, hold your horses,” Poe chuckled, releasing Finn’s hand so he could grip the kid’s shoulders.  “It’s not a race, no deadline.”

 

“But--,”

 

“Hey, how about you sit down,” Poe suggested.  Finn rolled his eyes but moved to take a seat on the lounge chair they had shared earlier that night when they had talked about everything from Finn’s annoyance at his AP Psych class to Poe’s consideration of getting a pet after graduation.  Easy, light, as though they’d known each other for months—or beyond texts and two weeks in person.  And now Finn was sitting there, looking up at him expectantly, with the sound of rolling waves behind and the light from the house brightening his face, and Poe had no words.

 

“Poe,” Finn hinted, twisting his fingers between Poe’s.  “What’s wrong?”

 

“I’m in over my head,” Poe admitted, lips twitching up slightly, self-deprecating.

 

“Imagine how I feel,” Finn replied, tugging Poe forward until Poe stood between Finn’s parted legs.  “This week has been—very confusing.”

 

“Think you can forgive me for that,” Poe asked, wincing.

 

“Yeah.  Are you gonna forgive me for not telling you about February,” Finn asked, sucking in his bottom lip.

 

“I,” Poe sighed.  “I understand why you didn’t.  For future reference, I wanna know when you get a splinter.”  Finn snorted, raising an eyebrow.  “But it was your choice and I respect that.”

 

“A splinter?  Really?”

 

“If you’d tell Tyler, I’d like you to tell me—in terms of injury,” Poe added quickly as Finn shot him a confused look.  “But, it’s your choice.  I just—worry about you.”

 

“You know I don’t actually go around, getting hurt all the time, right?”

 

“If I thought you did I’d be wrapping you in bubble wrap right now,” Poe said a bit too seriously.

 

“Well, thanks, I think,” Finn chuckled.  “You ready to head north tomorrow?”

 

“Not even slightly.”

 

“What about the board exams?”

 

“Yeah, I don’t really get excited about taking tests, kid,” Poe huffed.  “But finishing school forever sounds like heaven.”

 

“And then you’re gonna stay in Boston?”

 

Poe nodded.  “Yep, take my clinical and make it a job if it all goes right.”

 

Finn hummed, considering.  “I liked Boston.  Kinda cold though.”

 

“You’re always welcome, ya know?  We can make this work—I’ve seen longer distances work out,” Poe said, dropping down to kneel in front of Finn.

 

“Yeah.  I guess so,” Finn nodded.  “I’ve—I kinda already committed to a college.  For football.  Things kinda changed now, but I think I still wanna go there.”

 

Poe inhaled deeply, bracing himself.  “That’s great, Finn.  Where are ya heading?”

 

“Well I met this guy,” Finn said playfully, “and he told me I should go somewhere I can study what I want and not just be a football player.  And I think he was right.”

 

“Sounds like he was just telling you what you already knew,” Poe smiled.

 

“Maybe,” Finn shrugged, “but I needed to hear it, ya know?”

 

“The suspense is killing me, babe,” Poe groaned.  “Just put me out of my misery here.”

 

Finn laughed, running a hand through Poe’s curls, eyes bright.  “Well Harvard is happy to have me.  My sob story of a childhood didn't hurt, but I've got the grades and community service and extracurriculars--and, if I’m not able to play, I think I can talk them into switching my scholarship back to an academic one.  Plus, I have a college fund now, somehow.”  Finn blinked, waiting, and then poked Poe’s shoulder.  “Did you hear me?  Poe, where’d ya go?”

 

“Harvard,” Poe repeated flatly.

 

“Yeah,” Finn said slowly.  “It’s a school.”

 

“Yeah, I might’ve heard of it,” Poe muttered, a smile beginning to stretch his face.  “You’re gonna be in Massachusetts.”

 

“Just a subway ride away,” Finn agreed.  “Surprise?”

 

“Holy fuck,” Poe breathed, sitting back on his heels.  “Seriously?”

 

“Nope, I made it all up,” Finn rolled his eyes.  “That was sarcasm, by the way.”

 

“Yeah, I caught that,” Poe smiled, blinking a bit fast.  “Damn, I can’t—my mind isn’t—fuck, babe.”

 

“I fried your brain?”

 

“Yeah, can’t you smell the smoke?”

 

Finn laughed, inching closer to Poe.  “So does that change anything for ya?”

 

Poe smirked up at him.  “Not a damn thing,” he answered, surging up, grabbing the back of Finn’s neck, and sealing their lips together at last.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, I'm so sorry for the delay in this chapter! You are the most amazing readers, and I really try to keep up for y'all. Your comments and kudos are fantastic and I cherish them all! :D
> 
> So, the saga! Iolo and Tyler took on a life of their own. I don't know how it happened or where it came from, but it took over my mind and wouldn't let me get on with the important Poe and Finn stuff until I wrote it out. Therefore, I have the interlude which is alluded to in the chapter (Iolo and Tyler disappearing upstairs for some fun). I've been seriously on the fence about including it, because I've never written anything close to M-rated smut before, and it kinda scares me to put it up. But there is some character development too so I feel like there could be a legitimate reason to post it. So, later this week, there is a good chance I will post that Iolo/Tyler interlude with appropriate warnings and everything. If it's not your cup of tea, everything you need to know is in this chapter and you can skip it, no worries. If you want to read it and give me some feedback, I'd love that too. Whew! Over-explanation, anyone? ;)


	14. Saturday, April 9th

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry for the delay!

Poe held still and silent, although he didn’t have much choice in the latter with Finn’s hand over his mouth.  Finn waited another few seconds before he nodded, satisfied, and slowly pulled his hand off Poe’s face, but not before Poe managed to press a quick kiss to Finn’s palm.

 

“You’re strange,” Finn murmured fondly, looking from his hand to Poe’s face with a warm smile.  Poe shrugged with one shoulder, supporting himself on his elbow while spread against Finn’s gray bedspread.

 

“And I’m in your bed, so what does that say about you,” Poe joked, keeping his voice low and glancing over at Finn’s alarm clock.  8:11.  Not much longer now.

 

“Well, I already knew I was a few cards short of a full deck,” Finn said carelessly, slumping back into the pillows against his bed’s headboard.  “Around about my second month of therapy I figured that out.”

 

“I know you’re joking,” Poe said, leading the conversation, “but all the same, don’t.  There’s nothing wrong with you, Finn.”

 

Finn chuckled, eyes crinkling with his smile.  “Alright.  Except I had this ridiculously attractive man in my bed all night and we didn’t do a damn thing I haven’t seen in a PG movie.”

 

They hadn’t and Poe was fucking proud of himself.  That had required a level of control and restraint Poe rarely employed outside a cockpit or a hospital.  But he would be damned before he rushed this—relationship they were trying.  He was going to do it right.  And that was something Poe had never thought before; his general opinion was that if there was mutual attraction then there was no point drawing the preliminary stuff out.  If everyone was on the same page, just get on with it.  And, honestly, that had always worked for Poe—clear intentions from the jump and then move from there.  This was different, and if that meant he had to change his approach to romance—well, Finn had to basically create one from scratch so the least Poe could do was take it slow.

 

“Hey,” Finn said softly, poking a finger against Poe’s cheek, flicking up slightly as he pulled his hand back.  Poe smiled, leaning forward towards the retreating appendage and snapping at it with his teeth jokingly.  “You were kinda spacing on me for a second,” Finn continued, face relaxing into an easy smile that Poe decided was his favorite of Finn’s smiles.  It was the smile that meant he wasn’t trying to be happy, he just was.

 

“Just thinking,” Poe said, pushing himself up to sit, legs folded loosely like a pretzel in front of him.

 

“About what,” Finn pressed, tilting his head to the side.

 

“About when I’ll see you again,” Poe answered, ignoring the corny rom-com vibes that went with that line.  Whatever, Finn deserved to suffer through some corny romance.

 

Finn, however, didn’t seemed put off.  “Got any plans,” he asked, drawing one of his legs to his chest and wrapping his arms around it, resting his chin on the bent knee.

 

“Hundreds,” Poe said easily.  “Dunno where to start.”

 

Finn laughed and shook his head.  “Overachiever over here.”

 

“It’s more of an indecision thing,” Poe admitted, glancing over at the alarm clock again.  “I should probably figure out your drainpipe situation and head over to meet the guys.  I really hope Iolo packed my stuff,” Poe finished under his breath, not liking the mental image of a hungover Bastian going through his stuff.

 

“Or,” Finn drew out, “you can postpone your fantasy of recreating _West Side Story_ and use the front door.”

 

“First off, _West Side Story_ had a fire escape.  If you’re gonna mock me, do it right,” Poe said sternly.

 

“My apologies,” Finn answered seriously.

 

“Accepted,” Poe winked.  “Second, I don’t need you getting in trouble with Luke over this.”

 

Finn waved that away with a careless hand flip.  “Luke will probably say something about ‘understandable teenage rebellion.’  It’s Rey I wanted to avoid, and she’s off to rehearsal by now.”

 

Poe blinked.  “Luke—seems like an interested parent.”

 

Finn rolled off his bed with ease that comes from experience and straightened, stretching his arms over his head.  Poe noticed the tight wince that came over Finn’s face when he twisted slightly to the left and made a mental note to bug Finn about daily heat compressions and ice.  “Luke’s cool,” Finn said, dropping his arms to his sides.  “Breaths down my neck about eating every two hours, but he’s alright.”

 

“He probably thinks you’re too skinny,” Poe stated, taking the lighter approach.  He crawled across the bed—slightly disappointed that Finn’s back was to him—and then dug a finger into either side of Finn’s torso, just below his ribs.  Finn squeaked and flailed, complete with flapping hands and wide eyes as he turned and glared down at a flabbergasted Poe.  “What the hell was _that_?”

 

“I’m ticklish,” Finn snapped.  “Don’t do that.”

 

“Do that all the time?  No problem,” Poe beamed, wiggling his fingers threateningly.

 

“No, stay away,” Finn said quickly, taking a step back and forming a cross with his index fingers.

 

“I’m not a vampire,” Poe laughed, standing up.  He shoved his hands in his jeans pockets in surrender and smiled as Finn ran a calculating look over Poe, as if trying to decide if he was safe from tickling for now.

 

“I know.  I checked that a while ago.  You have a reflection in windows,” Finn stated, turning away and moving over to his dresser.  He didn’t seem to notice Poe’s staring as he fished out a white hoodie out of the second drawer and pulled it on.

 

“You checked that I have a reflection,” Poe said blandly.

 

“Yeah.”

 

“To make sure I wasn’t a vampire.”

 

“Right.”

 

“Vampires don’t exist, Finn.”

 

“I mean, yeah, if you wanna get serious about it,” Finn frowned, zipping the hoodie up and shoving his hands into the pockets.

 

“Uh,” Poe paused, scratching the back of his neck.  “Okay, babe.  Whatever floats your boat.”

 

Finn snorted a little before stepping close to Poe and drawing him in for a hug, arms draped around Poe’s shoulders.  On instincts Poe didn’t know he had, he raised his arms and wrapped them snugly around the small of Finn’s back, pulling him in close.  “If you were a vampire,” Finn whispered, lips tickling Poe’s neck, “I wouldn’t drive a stake through your heart.”

 

“That’s nice,” Poe mentioned.  “Kinda freaking me out how much thought you’ve put into this.”

 

“Shut up,” Finn groaned playfully, bumping his forehead gently against Poe’s.  “I’m just messing around.  Come on, you want some coffee before you go?”

 

“I mean, if you’re offering,” Poe shrugged, moving over to Finn’s nightstand and unplugging his cell from Finn’s charger.  “Looks like we’re meeting at some coffee place near here,” he commented, reading through Iolo’s most recent text.

 

“Yeah, I know the one,” Finn nodded, looking at his own cellphone and scrolling down.  “Bastian has a really vivid imagination.”

 

“Fuck, what’s he sending you,” Poe asked in mild alarm.  He took a step, reaching out for Finn’s phone, but Finn shoved it into his jeans pocket with a smirk.

 

“Don’t worry about it,” Finn said, which did nothing to reassure Poe.  “At least have a granola bar or somethin’,” Finn continued, turning on his heel and opening his bedroom door.  Poe sighed, reminding himself for the thousandth time that he can’t control Bastian (even though life would be so much easier if he could), and followed Finn down the hall and stairs.  He hung back a little so Finn could enter the kitchen alone.

 

“Good morning, Finn,” came Luke’s cheery greeting.

 

“Morning, Luke.  Poe’s here,” Finn said, looking over his shoulder as he noticed Poe wasn’t beside him.  Poe swallowed before sheepishly entering the kitchen, trying to look harmless yet confidence-instilling.  Luke didn’t even glance up from the newspaper spread in front of him on the round table in the breakfast nook beyond the kitchen island.

 

“I know,” Luke said lightly, finishing whatever he was reading before glancing up at Poe with a neutral gaze.  “Tyler left me a note.”

 

“He _what_ ,” Finn blurted out, incredulous, freezing with his hand on the handle of one of the cupboards.

 

Luke casually lifted a corner of the newspaper and brought a yellow Post-It note up to his face.  “ ‘Luke,’” he read with a small smile, “ ‘Matt and me are off.  Poe’s in Finn’s room.  Any problems let me know.  T.A.’”  

 

Poe felt his cheeks heat up while Finn moaned, banging his head against the cupboard.  “That’s so embarrassing.”

 

“It was very courteous,” Luke corrected mildly, sitting back with his blue eyes focused on Poe.  “In the future, while I have no issues with your friends spending the night, I would appreciate some notice.”

 

“Yes, sir,” Finn sighed, not moving from his position.

 

“Additionally, in the future your boyfriend will be very comfortable in one of the guestrooms,” Luke stated, more firmly.

 

“Yes, sir,” said Poe this time, gulping.

 

“Tyler hooked up with Iolo last night,” Finn announced loudly and suddenly.  Poe coughed in surprise as Finn pulled the cupboard door open and tossed a box of Chewy bars at him.  The box hit Poe’s chest before he realized what had happened and fumbled to catch it.

 

“Thank you for sharing,” Luke said patiently.  “I’m not sure what you want me to do with that information.”

 

“I dunno, but if he’s gonna pull stuff like that,” Finn whined, nodding at the note still in Luke’s hand, “then I get to pick on him.”

 

Luke shrugged, reaching out for him mug.  “Very well.  I’ll offer him the safe sex talk, however the one he gave you was a masterpiece I can’t improve upon.”

 

“Wait.”  Poe swallowed the bite of chocolate chip granola in his mouth before turning to Finn with a grin.  “Tyler gave you the Talk?”

 

Finn rolled his eyes but Luke answered, “He did indeed.  It was phenomenal.  I’ve attended a seminar on addressing those kinds of issues, and I had nothing to add.”

 

“Please,” Poe smirked, looking over to Luke, “tell me this is on film somewhere.”  He was trying to picture the chiller-than-chill Tyler explaining the birds and the bees to a mortified teen Finn, and it was hilarious.

 

“No,” Finn said firmly.

 

“You’d have to ask Matt; he’s our resident record-keeper,” Luke answered with a lazy smile, like he was amused by the proceedings.

 

“I don’t have his number,” Poe grumbled, shoving the last of the bar into his mouth.

 

“And I’m not gonna give it to ya,” Finn replied, crossing his arms.

 

Poe shrugged.  “I’ll have Iolo ask Tyler then.”  Finn’s face fell dramatically, as if he just realized what Poe’s roommate having Tyler’s number meant.  “Now you know how I feel when Bastian texts you,” Poe said, somewhat pitilessly.

 

“No fair!  Bastian doesn’t even tell me much,” Finn shot back with a slight pout.

 

“Fascinating though this is,” Luke cut in, “I was under the impression Poe had a flight.”

 

“Yeah,” Finn sighed, glancing down at his bare feet.  “I’ll walk ya over?”

 

“Great,” Poe agreed, feeling a tightening in his chest at the thought of saying goodbye.

 

“You know, Kylo’s graduation is in June,” Luke said, apropos of nothing.  Poe raised an eyebrow, but Finn seemed to understand.

 

“He doesn’t want us to go,” Finn mumbled.

 

“No, he doesn’t want _me_ to go,” Luke stated, looking back at his newspaper.  “He would be happy to have you and Rey visit again, I’m sure.  And anyway, you need to go to Harvard to fill out some paperwork at some point before school starts.”

 

Finn glanced over at Poe.  “What do ya think?  Want to see me in a couple months?”

 

Poe blinked.  “I dunno.  Let me think on that,” he teased.

 

“Shut up,” Finn rolled his eyes.  “Come on, you’ve got a plane to catch.”

 

*****

 

“About _fucking_ time,” Bastian called as Finn and Poe came around the corner.  “If we miss this flight, I’m gonna _kill_ you.  I’ve got _work_ tomorrow!”

 

“Morning, Finn,” Iolo greeted, thrusting a travel cup of hot coffee into Poe’s hand and pulling Finn into a one-armed hug.  “Doing alright?”

 

“I’m good.  How about you,” Finn asked, ignoring the sputtering Bastian over Iolo’s shoulder.

 

Iolo smiled relaxed.  “Great, thanks.”

 

“He’s on cloud fucking nine cause Tyler texted him this morning,” Bastian snapped.  “We gotta go!”

 

“Uber’s on its way,” Kylo said, sounding exhausted.  Poe took a tentative sip of his coffee, glancing over at Kylo who was staring at him.  “Did ya sneak out or did ya have to talk to Luke?”

 

“Talked to Luke,” Poe answered.  “Tyler told him I stayed over.”

 

“Course he did,” Iolo laughed fondly.  Poe cast his eyes skyward; Iolo had it bad.

 

“Speaking of, what’s your email, Lo,” Finn asked, taking out his phone.

 

“Why?  Who sends emails,” Bastian asked with a bemused frown.

 

“Tyler didn’t know what kind of plan you have,” Finn answered nonchalantly, scrolling through his phone.  “He wanted to send you an audio file and figured email would be easier, so he sent it to me and I’ll forward it to ya.”

 

“What is it,” Iolo asked, taking Finn’s cell when he held it out.

 

“Hmm, let’s think about this,” Finn said drily, watching Iolo type in his email address.  “It’s an audio file.  Ty’s a professional singer.  I think he sent you seagull calls.”

 

Iolo rolled his eyes, handing the phone back.  “Hilarious.  Do you know what song he sent?”

 

“Nah, man, I don’t read other people’s mail.”  Finn sent a serious look at Iolo.  “That’s against the law.”

 

“Right,” Iolo said with a huffed chuckle.  “Well, thanks for—being the messenger.”

 

“Eh, it’s whatever,” Finn shrugged, clicking away on his phone before looking up.  “I like you.”

 

“Uber’s two minutes away,” Kylo announced.

 

“Thank _God_ ,” Bastian moaned, throwing his hands up dramatically.

 

“Chill, we’ll be fine,” Poe groused.

 

“Kylo, can Rey and I come to your graduation,” Finn asked, turning to his cousin.

 

“Why would ya want to,” Kylo asked, brows furrowed.  Then he glanced over at Poe, who shrugged awkwardly.  “Oh.  Yeah, whatever.  No Luke.  Or the others.”

 

“No worries,” Finn beamed.  “Thanks.”

 

“Is there gonna be a heartrending, weepy goodbye?  Cause if there is, I’m totally filming it,” Bastian smirked.

 

“If there is, y’all got one minute,” Kylo said, looking back at his phone.  Poe took another sip of coffee, buying some time while he tried to think of something to say that would encompass everything—that he didn’t want to leave, that he wished he could stay with Finn for…a long time, that he didn’t know how he’ll make it to June without being able to touch Finn.  When he took a deep breath and turned to face the younger man, Poe was confused to see Finn giving him a concerned look.

 

“I don’t really do ‘weepy goodbyes,’” Finn said, raising an eyebrow.  “I’ll see ya in a bit.”

 

“Oh,” Poe managed, mind going blank.

 

“Anti-climactic,” Bastian mumbled, pushing his cellphone back into his pocket in evident disappointment.

 

“I’ve said a lot of goodbyes,” Finn stated earnestly, eyes trained on Poe’s.  “Some I’ve dreaded, some I’ve been happy about.  But they’re never—they’ve never been the end, ya know?”

 

“Um,” Poe shook his head.

 

“I mean, things don’t end with goodbye,” Finn shrugged.  “They fall apart before or after.  And if this—if it didn’t end for you and me back on the beach, I don’t think it’ll end before I see ya again.  So I’m not worried, is what I’m saying.”

 

Poe stared.  “Who the fuck are you?”

 

Finn’s face broke into a sunny grin.  “I didn’t take amnesia into account.”

 

“The black Accord is us,” Kylo said, jerking his chin across the street at the car with its flashers on.  Bastian grabbed his bag at his feet, wrapped an arm around Finn’s shoulders and smacked a loud, wet kiss on Finn’s cheek before taking off.

 

“I guess I’ll see you in June,” Kylo nodded at Finn.

 

“Yeah,” Finn nodded back.

 

“Cool.  Take care,” Kylo said before following Bastian across the street, not bothering to check both ways before stepping off the curb.

 

“Well,” Iolo said, taking a deep breath, “this has been a crazy week, huh?”

 

“Kinda sorta,” Finn agreed easily, letting Iolo pull him into a tight hug.  “If ya need me, ya can text.”

 

“What,” Iolo asked, pulling back.

 

“Ty’s got his own language.  If ya need any help deciphering,” Finn shrugged.  “But only til you start catching on.”

 

“Okay.  Thanks,” Iolo squinted.  “See you soon.”  Finn flashed him a thumb’s up before Iolo clapped Poe on the shoulder in solidarity and headed off to join the others in the Uber.

 

“So, I’ll see you soon,” Poe echoed with a bit of hesitance.

 

“And you’ll hear from me sooner,” Finn smiled, bringing his hands up to frame Poe’s face.  “Until then, be good.”

 

Poe snorted.  “I’m always good, babe.”

 

“Not sure if I believe that,” Finn said, smile softening into his real one.  Poe leaned in, pressing a feather-light kiss on Finn’s slightly chapped lips.  There was a yell and a honking horn behind him and Poe drew back with a groan.  “You can’t tell, but Bastian’s happy for us,” Finn mentioned.

 

“Yeah, he’s our number-one cheerleader,” Poe grunted, grabbing his duffle bag that Iolo had left on the ground and hefting it onto his shoulder.

 

“Hey, Poe?”  Finn’s hand wrapped around Poe’s bicep and Poe paused, raising an eyebrow.  “I dunno if I ever said it but—I really like you.”

 

“Finn,” Poe breathed.  “I know.”

 

“Oh, forget it,” Finn laughed, pushing Poe away as Poe smirked.  “Just go before Bastian has an aneurism.”

 

Poe chuckled as he turned away and crossed the street to the waiting Accord.  He tossed his bag in the trunk before slamming the door shut.  He moved around to the right rear door and pulled it open before looking back at where Finn was standing, hands in his hoodie pockets and head tilted to the side, watching.  “I really like you too,” Poe called, obnoxiously loud.

 

Finn tossed his head back with a groan.  “I know, you weirdo,” he called back.  Poe blew a kiss over before folding himself into the car, barely getting the door closed before the driver took off down the road.

 

“Just gonna say,” Bastian said from the passenger seat, “you could work on your romance.”

 

“Whatever,” Poe shot back, huge smile on his face.  He looked over at Iolo, who was stuck sitting on the middle hump.  Iolo was staring at his phone, one earbud in his left ear.  “So, what did he send you,” he asked, elbowing his roommate in the ribs.

 

“ _Iris_ ,” Iolo said reverently, turning wide eyes to Poe.

 

“As in your favorite song?”  Poe rolled his eyes as Iolo nodded slowly.  “When did you tell him you’re obsessed with the Goo Goo Dolls?”

 

“I didn’t,” Iolo murmured, looking down at his phone screen again.  “I never told him I liked this song.  He just—all on his own.”

 

“Is it him singing,” Bastian asked, turning around to look at the three crammed in the back seat.

 

“Yeah.  He’s—really good,” Iolo answered.  Bastian shot a surprised look at Poe, who shrugged.

 

“So, summer wedding?  Your wedding photos will be fantastic.  I see Lo in a nice navy.  And Tyler can wear a burlap sack and still look better than everyone,” Bastian teased.

 

“Should we make it a double one,” Kylo asked, wrinkling his nose at Poe, whose mouth dropped.

 

“Nah, that won’t work,” Bastian shook his head.  “How can Tyler give Finn away _and_ get given away?  Logistically, it won’t work.”    

 

“Good point,” Kylo said seriously.

 

“When does the teasing stop,” Iolo asked Poe with a scowl.

 

“In my experience, it doesn’t,” Poe answered honestly, leaning his head against the cool glass of the window as Bastian and Kylo debated the merits of a beach wedding over a hand-binding ceremony in the woods (which Bastian seemed weirdly supportive of).  After a few minutes of that, they moved on to the more serious topic of who gets to give Tyler away: Matt or Finn.  Poe turned his attention back when Iolo poked him in the shoulder.  “What’s up?”

 

“Everything’s gonna be okay, right,” Iolo asked, his bottom lip between his teeth.

 

Poe opened his mouth to answer when his phone vibrated in his pocket.  He leaned over to fish it out, smiling where he saw the text alert from Finn.

 

_Finn:_

_FYI you didn’t need to shout your declaration.  But thanks._

 

“Yeah, I think so,” Poe told Iolo.  “We might never have a dull moment again though.”

 

Iolo considered that, looking back at his phone which Poe could see was open to the text thread with Tyler.  “I could probably use some excitement,” he allowed.

 

Poe shifted so he could throw an arm around Iolo’s shoulder, taking the opportunity to poke Kylo’s shoulder.  “Yeah, I know what you mean.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, this is long overdue, huh? As you can see I chickened out of posting the Iolo/Tyler smut. I might put it up separately later, if I ever get the confidence :P  
> If anyone was wondering why this chapter is about two weeks late, I had something that might have been the flu for a week, followed immediately by an ear infection -.- And my hours changed at work so that just threw off my writing schedule in general, but I'm figuring it out.  
> ANYWAY, you've made it to the end! Thank you so much for reading! All of the comments and kudos have been absolutely amazing and I've really cherished each one :D  
> Regarding the series, I'm leaving it a bit open right now. I have a few little things in mind, which might be collected into a few one-shots, but I'll see. Until then, continue to be awesome!!

**Author's Note:**

> This story will be updated weekly. Kudos and comments are relished, and I aim to reply to every comment :)
> 
> Hope you enjoy!


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